The Minnesota Timberwolves are not overly obsessed with which specific seed they end up with in the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs.
It’s more important that the Timberwolves feel healthy and are playing well when the postseason tips off.
Minnesota (46-31) will try to snap out of a recent funk when it faces the Charlotte Hornets (42-36) on Sunday evening in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves have lost two games in a row and three of their past four.
The slide has made it increasingly unlikely that the Timberwolves will secure a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Kyle Anderson said he and his teammates are keeping things in perspective.
“It’s not something you’re going to lose sleep over,” Anderson said when asked about playoff seeding. “(When I played in San Antonio, former coach Gregg Popovich said), ‘You want to win a championship? You’ve got to beat good teams on the road.’
“So that’s what it comes down to. Whoever we see, we’ve got to be willing to do what we’ve got to do to win.”
Minnesota will face a tough test against Charlotte, which is riding a three-game winning streak after victories over the Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers. Their latest win over the Pacers came by 21 points and ensured a winning record in the regular season for the Hornets.
Hornets coach Charles Lee has guided the franchise’s turnaround into a winning team. He said his players needed to keep pressing forward after the big win over Indiana.
“This is not time of year to look past anybody,” Lee said. “You’ve got to stay focused on the opponent in front of you, the opportunity to get better that day. … That team (Indiana), they’re good, they’re well coached. They play fast, force you to communicate and work on your transition defense.
“I thought that we shared the ball phenomenally (against the Pacers). To have six guys in double figures, 31 assists; (I) love how we played.”
The Timberwolves are not certain whether they will have their top player for Sunday’s game. Anthony Edwards is listed as questionable because of inflammation in his right knee, which sidelined him for a couple of weeks in March.
Edwards also dealt with a recent illness but played Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers. He struggled badly as he finished with eight points on 3-for-15 shooting, including 0-for-7 shooting from 3-point range.
“Offensively, it didn’t look like he had a lot of juice (against the 76ers),” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “But all credit for him playing through what he’s been through over the last number of days.”
Edwards leads the Timberwolves with 28.9 points per game on 48.9% shooting. Julius Randle adds 21.1 points per game, but Minnesota will be without defensive standout Jaden McDaniels (14.8 points per game), who is week-to-week (knee).
Charlotte is led by Brandon Miller, who is averaging 20.4 points on 43.7% shooting. LaMelo Ball is next with 19.5 points per game, and rookie Kon Knueppel is averaging 18.8 points while shooting 43.1% from beyond the arc.
–Field Level Media
