The Western Conference this season is far from as calm as last season, after the Lakers, Clippers Los Angeles two males have fallen, the situation in the West has been further broken, the 8th has also appeared a lot of chaos, and the Timberwolves took advantage of the chaos and became a big dark horse in the West.
Timberwolves, previously a fish belly team in the West! The team has not tasted the taste of the playoffs for more than 3 years since Butler left, and the team has never risen since Garnett left, saying that it is a "millennium fish belly", which is no exaggeration.
Last season, the Timberwolves selected Edwards, plus Towns, Russell, the team initially formed its own core lineup, but the poor team tactics and chemistry, so that their combat strength did not improve much, and finally only ranked 13th in the West, or did not qualify for the playoffs!
But this season, in silence, the Timberwolves have risen.
After losing to the 76ers today, the Timberwolves' record this season has come to 32-29, with a win rate of more than 50%, ranking 7th in the West, 2.5 games ahead of the 8th-place Clippers, 4 games ahead of the 9th Lakers, and the team basically sits in the 7th position! Compared with last season, they rose 6 places like a rocket, completed the transformation from the fish belly team to the playoff team, and achieved the rise.
The rise of the Timberwolves is not a flash in the pan, they did play good team basketball! The Timberwolves are averaging 113.3 points per game this season, ranking fifth in the West on offense, and that's their most powerful weapon! Team 3 core Russell, Edwards, Towns formed the Timberwolves offensive team, Russell is responsible for the organization, and in the outside line as the main fire point, Edwards is a comprehensive offensive expert, can shoot, can break through, has become a sharp knife on the offensive end of the team, Towns can also be inside and outside, 3 people offensive explosive power, to ensure the team's offensive strength!
In addition, Beasley, Beverly, McDaniels, Reed, Norville and others have also performed well, and the Timberwolves' offense has been completed, becoming another offensive team in the NBA.
In addition to the offense, the Timberwolves have also made great progress in other areas! The Timberwolves are averaging 25.2 assists per game, ranking 9th in the league, proving that they are not just a star-based team, but have a clear offensive system. The Timberwolves are ranked 6th in the league in terms of steals and 3rd in blocks, and both of these two defensive stats are excellent.
However, in this case, the Timberwolves conceded an average of 111.8 points per game, defending the league's 10th to last, not a satisfactory answer! But from the side, it also reflects that the Timberwolves can perform well in rebounding, steals, and blocks, proving that they still have great potential at the defensive end, and after more tuning, the team's defense will go up to a higher level, indicating that the team has a lot of room for improvement.
Offensively tough, defensive potential is huge, this is this season's Timberwolves, they have achieved the rise, this season's playoffs are likely to be high, and they have also become the last straw that crushed the Lakers' playoffs.
The Lakers are now ranked No. 9 in the West, and with the 10th Blazers slightly weak, their biggest playoff competitors are the Clippers and Timberwolves, and these 2 teams, they can't afford to mess with.
In today's head-to-head match with the Clippers, they lost 102-105, facing the Clippers 3 consecutive losses this season, the Clippers are currently ranked 8th, the advantage over the Lakers is not very large, but it has reached 1.5 wins, but do not forget, the current Clippers are half a team, the team's majors Powell, George will come back in March, Leonard has a better chance to appear at the end of the regular season, and the strength of the Clippers is not comparable to this Lakers.
Similarly, the Timberwolf Lakers are no match! The Lakers' defense this season has fallen to the bottom, the defensive league is nowhere to last, not as good as the Timberwolves, but on the offensive end, the team and the Timberwolves are also far behind, which makes the competition between the Lakers and the 2 teams in the downwind!
As you can imagine, under the existing gap, the Lakers will have a hard time improving their ranking before the end of the regular season, and the team is likely to end up in the 9th place in the West, which makes them in a disadvantageous situation in the playoffs! If the Play-off Lakers encounter the Clippers, in the absence of an advantage, the team will not have the strength to resist George, Powell, and Small Card. Even if they encounter the Timberwolves, the Lakers have a slightly better chance, but they are also at a disadvantage, and their playoff path this season is likely to be broken because of the rise of the Timberwolves.
What do you think? Is it still possible for the Lakers to make the playoffs?