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Preview: Warriors battle Timberwolves to stay in play-in seeding

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Minnesota Timberwolves v Golden State Warriors
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

NEED A BIG WIN TODAY FOLKS!

Sheesh, when did the Minnesota Timberwolves become a beast in the West while the Golden State Warriors are clinging to a play-in spot?

The Wolves are currently 1.5 games out of the top spot in the Western Conference, giving their fanbase renewed hope after years of mediocrity. Meanwhile, the Dubs are 1.5 games out of the 11th spot in the standings, which means they have a thin margin of error between a play-in tournament berth and missing the big show all together.

That makes their competition today PRETTY IMPORTANT FOR BOTH BALLCLUBS.

Golden State Warriors at Minnesota Timberwolves

March 24th, 2024 | 4:00 PM PT

Watch: NBC Sports Bay Area

Listen: 95.7 The Game

Minnesota has won three straight over Golden State dating back to last season, including two straight victories over the Golden Empire. Both of those contests came out in November within two days of each other. The latter ended with the chokehold heard round the world as a scuffle between the two teams ended up with Draymond Green activating a UFC headlock on giant Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert.

But now it’s the Wolves who are trying to put the West in a stranglehold, as they know a strong close to the season could give them the top seed:

Entering this season, the Timberwolves were the outright top seed in the West for 10 days in 34 years of existence. It’s a big step for the Wolves to be the team with a target on its back instead of completely irrelevant by the All-Star break.

Of the previous 77 teams that have hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, 51 champions were the top seed in their conference, and 38 No. 1 seeds finished as runners-up. Eighty-nine of 154 Finals teams had earned the No. 1 seed, far exceeding NBA Finals representation from any other seed. Two seeds won 16 championships and lost 23, three seeds are 8-8 in the Finals, and the only other champions were the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets in 1995 and the fourth-seeded Boston Celtics in 1969.

Golden State winning today would throw a wrench in those plans, while keeping the Warriors from slipping even further out of relevance in the standings.