At one point, the Minnesota Timberwolves were among the hottest teams in the NBA, but the Wolves scored a season-low 87 points in a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday, prompting veteran point guard Mike Conley to explain what went wrong in Phoenix.
In a post-game scrum, Conley said things fell apart for Minnesota in the first quarter.
“A lot of it was self-inflicted. We turned the ball over on the first possession, and it kinda snowballed from there,” Conley said.
Conley also joked about how nothing seemed to be going the Timberwolves' way against the Suns.
“Mercury [in] retrograde, is that a real thing? Felt like it tonight, man. Felt like everything we did, even in a positive light, ended up being negative. Ball was slipping out of guys' hands when they were getting into the paint, making errant throws, and just stuff that we normally finish, we didn't. And I think it was frustrating a lot of us,” Conley said.
Timberwolves still battling for top seed in Western Conference
Despite the loss on Friday, the Timberwolves have won nine of their last 12, which includes victories over the Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Los Angeles Clippers, all of whom project to be top-five seeds in their respective conferences. The Nuggets, in particular, are in direct competition with the Timberwolves, as well as the Oklahoma City Thunder, for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
As it currently stands, the Timberwolves and Nuggets, both of whom sit at 53-24 with five games remaining, are tied for the first seed. The Thunder are one game back from Minnesota and Denver at 52-25. Oklahoma City does not play either of the top two teams for the rest of the regular season, but the Wolves and Nuggets will clash for the final time on Wednesday, April 10, in Denver. That game will very likely be a deciding factor in who clinches the first seed.
After a strong start to the season by the Nuggets, the Timberwolves took over the top spot in the West and held it for quite a long time. Minnesota ascended to No. 1 in the conference on Nov. 19, just 12 games into the year, and stayed atop the West until Jan. 27, when the Thunder briefly took the lead. While the Timberwolves regained the first seed, since early March, Oklahoma City and Denver have served as stiff competition to claim the highly sought-after playoff seed.
Becoming the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, while prestigious, may not ultimately be the most beneficial position to be in considering the conference's strength this season, however. Currently, the four NBA Play-In teams in the West are the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors. The first seed could play any of the four teams in the Play-In, while the second seed is guaranteed to play either the Play-In's seventh or eighth seed.
Each of the four teams currently in the Play-In, as well as the Suns, who are now one game ahead of the Pelicans in sixth, would likely be tough matchups for Denver, Minnesota, or OKC. The Timberwolves, in particular, are 0-2 this season against the Suns, 1-2 against the Kings, and 2-2 against the Pelicans.
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