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How Timberwolves' choke job alters West playoff picture
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards. Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

How Timberwolves' choke job alters West playoff picture

By Sai Mohan  |  Last updated Apr 9, 2025 8:15 AM ET

In a shocking turn of events, the Timberwolves were outscored 39-8 in the final 10 minutes of a 110-103 loss to the Bucks on Tuesday night. 

Ordinarily, a loss like that in April — the dog days of the NBA season —doesn't spell gloom and doom. However, the Western Conference's wide-open status means the Timberwolves suffered not only their worst loss of the season but likely missed their final shot at securing a guaranteed playoff berth. 

Entering Tuesday's slate of games, five teams out West — the Nuggets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Warriors and Timberwolves — were tied in the loss column. The Timberwolves had the best cumulative record against the pack, giving them the best odds of finishing as the fourth seed if the teams were to finish with identical records (a realistic possibility). 

While the Clippers, Grizzlies and Warriors took care of business with wins, the Timberwolves choked. As a result, Anthony Edwards and Co. slipped to the eighth seed when they could have ended the night as the fourth or fifth. 

Due to the tiebreaker situation, a win for Minnesota would have also sent Denver to the play-in bracket. However, the Nuggets benefited enormously from the Timberwolves' loss, maintaining a top-six seed with just three games left.

The Timberwolves' loss was so rare that it marked only the fifth time since 1996-97 when a team blew a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter, per Sportradar. It also marked only the third time that the comeback team didn't require overtime to overcome a 24-point deficit.

If Minnesota fails to clinch a playoff berth, Tuesday's loss will sting even more. However, head coach Chris Finch shrugged off the loss and encouraged his teammates to look ahead. 

"I have every confidence that we'll be able to bounce back," Finch said, via the Associated Press. "We've got good guys. They'll shake it off. We've had some tough losses before in the season. We didn't expect to go undefeated over our last 10 games."

The one thing working in Minnesota's favor is that it has the easiest schedule left among the four teams battling for playoff seedings. Finch's men will face the Grizzlies on Thursday before winding up their regular season against the Nets and Jazz over the weekend. However, even going 3-0 doesn't guarantee a top-six playoff berth.

Sai Mohan
Muck Rack

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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