The Wolves head into the postseason as the No. 8 seed.
They’ll take on the No. 1 seeded Houston Rockets, a James Harden production that finished the season with a league-high 65 wins.
Minnesota earned a playoff berth on the final day of the season, but in the West this season, there wasn’t much separation. The difference between the third seed and eighth seed was just two games.
Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau has been courtside a long time, and while eight seeds beating one seeds hasn’t been a common occurrence, he knows anything can happen.
Back in 1998-99, the Knicks advanced all the way to the NBA Finals as an eighth seed. Thibodeau was an assistant coach on that team. New York had to win six of its last eight games to creep in as the eighth seed. After that, the Knicks took down the Heat in five games, the Hawks in four games and the Pacers in six games to advance to the Finals before being beat in five to the Spurs.
He was also on the other end of it in 2012 as head coach of the Bulls. The No. 1 Bulls fell to the No. 8 76ers in six games. Chicago was without Derrick Rose for the series and Joakim Noah was banged up.
“I’ve seen it both way,” Thibodeau said on Thursday. “I’ve seen it being an eighth seed and getting to the finals. I’ve seen it a one seed and taking on multiple injuries . . . Things can change quickly in this league and that’s for everybody and we’ve seen it. An injury at the wrong time, it can hurt you. Be ready for anything.”
The Wolves and Rockets open the series on Sunday at 8 p.m. in Houston. The game will air on Fox Sports North, TNT and 830 WCCO.
Plenty of coverage to come.