#timberwolves

#timberwolves

Just a couple of weeks ago, Knicks fans couldn't wait for the playoffs to get here.Fresh off of a nine-game winning streak, we were all excited with the team's play and were looking forward to the prospect of making some noise in the post season.But after their recent 3-6 stretch, many are thankful that there is still some time for this team to right the ship and get back on track.

After rattling off three straight wins, the Knicks have now lost two in a row, allowing 267 combined points to the Timberwolves and Heat which renews questions about the Knicks' defensive ability as the team heads into its playoff push.The biggest area of concern in both losses was the Knicks' ability to defend the three-point shot.

After the 1994-95 NBA season, the Washington Bullets faced a crossroads.The team had been sub-par going on 15 years, ever since the days of Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and Bobby "Greyhound" Dandridge.The '95 campaign ended with the Bullets having two obvious strengths and one glaring hole.Their frontcourt was stacked between Chris Webber and Juwan Howard, both only 21.

Coming off of a huge comeback win against the Nuggets on Saturday, the Knicks take on the Timberwolves at the Mecca Monday night trying to build off of another memorable Garden evening.The Knicks fought back from down double digits in the third quarter to beat the team with the best record in the west over the weekend and made another statement to the rest of the league.

Sometimes, the best-laid plans go to waste.The Lakers certainly headed into Memphis in Game 5 ready and prepared to close out the Grizzlies, but the hosts had plans of their own to extend the series.Despite some moments, in particular a strong start to the third quarter, the Lakers were undone on Wednesday, falling to the Grizzlies 116-99.

The Los Angeles Lakers had their revenge on Wednesday, beating the Chicago Bulls on the road after losing at home to them just three days prior.The game featured a brand new starting lineup for the Lakers which saw Jarred Vanderbilt, Austin Reaves, and D'Angelo Russell flanking LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

In the first stop on their five-game road trip, the Lakers won the rematch against the Chicago Bulls 121-110.There was uncertainty heading into the game whether LeBron James and D'Angelo Russell were going to play as they were both listed as game-time decisions.Fortunately however, both started and produced.

While the examples continue to grow, the last three days have been a perfect representation of the wildness of the Western Conference playoff race for the Lakers.On Sunday, the Lakers loss meant instead of being tied for the seventh seed, the team was tied for the ninth seed and, because of tiebreakers dropped out of the play-in race down to the 11th seed.

Already down LeBron James, the Lakers head into Oklahoma City on Wednesday even further undermanned.Both Anthony Davis (right foot stress injury) and D'Angelo Russell (right ankle sprain) will be out for the Lakers as they take on the Warriors.D'Lo's absence isn't a surprise as the indications were that he would not be available for the Lakers for the game.

Stay afloat.Keep your head above water.Maintain.These sayings all convey a similar message, and all should be at the forefront of the minds of each and every member of the Los Angeles Lakers.This was already apparent earlier in the week via reporting that LeBron James would be out for multiple weeks at the very least, with that bit of bad news confirmed by the team during the day on Thursday.

The Lakers bouncing back with a win on Wednesday and a handful of results going their way in recent days has them in the eight seed and only 1.5 games removed from the sixth seed.And with a really important matchup on Friday and another big game next week, there is a realistic chance the Lakers avoid the play-in altogether.

One area the New York Knicks have done a great job in this season is limiting turnovers.Looking at the season, the Knicks average the fourth fewest turnovers per game.In Tom Thibodeau's three years coaching the Knicks, not turning it over is an area they've succeeded in:


2020-21: Sixth-fewest turnovers per game
2021-22: Tied for tenth in fewest turnovers per game
2022-23 (current): Fourth-fewest turnovers per game


Point guard Jalen Brunson has been a spotlight for the Knicks' consistency with the ball.

On the second night of a back-to-back, the New York Knicks are still in Florida, this time to face the Orlando Magic.The Knicks find themselves in what has become a much too familiar situation, one in which the team has a pseudo-must-win game following a loss that many would describe as disappointing and frustrating.

After Thursday's win for the Lakers over the Suns, the fourth seed in the conference (Phoenix) and the 12th seed (Pelicans) are separated by three losses.It's really impossible to overstate how absurd this playoff race has been and will be in the final weeks of the season.Every game will be a big one for the Lakers moving forward, but a chance to win the season series and tiebreaker against the Thunder on Friday makes that game enormous as is.

Coming off an unexpected but nevertheless huge win on the road against the hottest team in the NBA, the Chicago Bulls likely held high hopes they could repeat the seemingly impossible and take the 76ers out for the second time in as many games last night.The fans in the United Center likely felt that same energy too - well, at least for the first few minutes.

The Knicks head back to Miami looking to clinch the season series against the Heat.New York is coming off of a difficult loss against the Timberwolves on Monday night despite 57 points from Julius Randle.New York returns to South Beach after the epic 122-120 win back on Mar. 3 when Randle hit the game winning shot in the final seconds.

SAN FRANCISCO The Warriors were up two and had the ball in their hands with about five seconds separating the shot and game clock Sunday evening.Their fourth straight win was well within reach.But Draymond Green turned the ball over and Kyle Anderson fed Karl Anthony Towns who buried a 3 to put the Timberwolves up for good.

There is no better look at how compacted the Western Conference playoff race is than Sunday night's game between the Knicks and Lakers.Had the Lakers won the contest, they would have moved into a 3-way tie for the seventh seed with the Mavericks and Timberwolves with matching .500records at 34-34.Instead, the Lakers lost, dropped to 33-35 and into a four-way tie for the ninth seed.

The Lakers have not only played their way into the play-in positions, they've now put themselves in a position to where there's now ground between them and the teams out of the play-in race.After games on Wednesday, the Lakers are in the ninth seed on tiebreakers over the Pelicans with Oklahoma City, Portland and Utah all a game behind them.

The Raptors have a huge game coming up tonight as they can further separate themselves from the Washington Wizards who are also eyeing a Play-In spot.It's the tie-breaking game for the series this season as they previously traded wins three weeks ago.Wizards scope (33-41, 11th in East | Offensive rating: 16th | Defensive rating: 21st) Last five games: vs Spurs 136-124 W, vs Nuggets 104-118 L, @ Magic 112-122 L, vs Kings 118-132 L, @ Cavaliers 94- 117 L.
Just a few weeks ago the Wizards and Raptors were fighting each other for a Play-In spot and now Washington has fallen off quite hard.

The Toronto Raptors managed to perform very well during what was a pivotal week of games.Scottie Barnes and the rest of the team went 3-1, taking down the Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Thunder at home.The Bucks beat them, but Toronto was on the road and lost Barnes to injury while leading late in the game.

The Toronto Raptors need to get through this last chunk of regular season games with as few interruptions and poor performances as possible, as Fred VanVleet and the rest of the squad are running out of chances to gain ground in a significant fashion.Winning against the Oklahoma City Thunder was a nice start to this late stretch.

The Washington Wizards are finally on the right side of a massive comeback run having been outscored by 15 points in the first quarter and going on to win the game.This is a great sign as they blew two big leads like this in a row only a short while ago.They came to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves after a tough loss against the Golden State Warriors where they built up a double-digit lead in the first quarter and then proceeded to give up 77 points in the second and third quarters.

The Boston Celtics got away with a win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday by the skin of their teeth, and on March 17, the Cs hope to honor St. Patrick with a victory on his unofficial holiday against the Blazers in Portland.Against Minnesota, things came down to the very last minute.Grant Williams won a controversial jump ball over Rudy Gobert, and Jayson Tatum iced the game with two free throws in the final two seconds - being given an extra technical foul shot due to Gobert's complaints about Williams potentially getting away with tapping the ball before it hit its peak in the air.

Celtics The Celtics got a huge game from Jaylen Brown and a victory on Wednesday.The Celtics claimed a hard-fought - and somewhat controversial - win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday, holding off a fourth-quarter charge for a 104-102 victory.Here are the takeaways.1.In 10 games since the All-Star break, Jaylen Brown has been the Celtics' best player, averaging 28.1 points and shooting 50 percent from the field.

Celtics MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and Jayson Tatum added 22 as the Boston Celtics held on to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 104-102 on Wednesday night.Malcolm Brogdon added 12 points off the bench for Boston, which overcame a tough shooting night to win for the third time in four games.

Fred VanVleet and the Toronto Raptors are in a position where every single game in the remainder of the season has tons of importance placed on it.Any little slip-up could be catastrophic for Toronto's chances of making it to the postseason, and this team is well aware.Beating the Denver Nuggets after scoring 49 points in the first quarter was certainly a good start, but the famous inconsistency of this Raptors team could easily rear its ugly head against an Oklahoma City Thunder team with enough quality young players to give them a headache.

The Toronto Raptors had a perfect opportunity to take home a very impressive road win against the Denver Nuggets, but some very poor officiating managed to rob them of that golden opportunity.The team appeared to spiral out of control after that loss.Toronto lost consecutive tough games against both Los Angeles-based teams, one of which was due to some questionable refereeing that got Fred VanVleet hot under the collar and the other of which came as a result of some laughable bench play from Toronto.