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Wolves Playoff Watch Viewing Guide | March 28, 2018

Julian AndrewsWeb Editorial AssociateTwitter

The West is as close as ever.

A tight playoff race got even tighter last night, when several of the Wolves’ Western Conference competitors took losses. Only one game separates the five-seeded Pelicans and the eighth-seeded Wolves.

Minnesota needs a win tonight. Wolves fans should be watching and cheering on the team as they face the shorthanded Hawks.

But if you’re still in the mood for basketball when the Wolves game is over, there are a few other contests that impact Minnesota.

Here’s your viewing guide:

Blazers at Grizzlies, 7 p.m., League Pass

Damian Lillard scored 20 points in the fourth quarter last night, carrying the Blazers to a win over the Pelicans. But Lillard won’t be there to bail out Portland tonight.

Lillard flew back to Portland last night immediately after the game ended to witness the birth of his first child. Best wishes to him.

It will be up to C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic to carry the Blazers against the Grizzlies in Memphis. The Grizzlies are not nearly as talented as the Blazers on paper, but as Wolves fans know all too well, they can be dangerous.

Marc Gasol is as crafty as they come, and he has a unique ability to get in the heads of more inexperienced centers. Nurkic will have his hands full. Wayne Selden, the Grizzlies’ second-year shooting guard, has also been playing well lately, and coming off a close win last night, Portland might be primed for a letdown against a re-energized Memphis team.

We’re starting to get to the point where Portland’s record doesn’t impact the Wolves too much, but it’s always good when Minnesota’s rivals lose. Wolves fans should pull for the Grizzlies.

Celtics at Jazz, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

News in Celtics nation has been dominated by Kyrie Irving’s upcoming knee surgery, but Boston, even without Irving, is a dangerous team.

The Celtics have won four straight, including wins over the Blazers and Thunder, and have been getting quality contributions up and down the roster to make up for Irving’s absence. Marcus Morris, Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier have played well, and Boston looks to have a strong hold on the East’s No. 2 seed. But the Celtics need to stay sharp heading into the playoffs and would love to continue their momentum into their contest with the Jazz.

Utah, meanwhile, is right in the thick of the brutal lower half of the Western Conference playoff race. In their last four, they have beaten the Mavs and Warriors, and lost to the Hawks and Spurs. The Jazz currently sit in seventh, a half game ahead of the Wolves and a half game behind the Spurs and the Pelicans. If they lose, and the Wolves take care of business against the Hawks, Utah would drop to eighth place in the West.

This would obviously be great news for the Wolves. Minnesota fans should be cheering for the Celtics tonight.

Clippers at Suns, 9 p.m., League Pass

The Clippers won’t go away!

Los Angeles took down the Bucks last night, and are now in ninth place in the conference, only 1.5 games behind the Wolves.

For any organization looking for a model of how to build a winning team in the absence of a superstar, the Clippers might be exhibit A. That’s no disrespect to Los Angeles’ roster—Lou Williams and DeAndre Jordan are undoubtedly incredibly talented, and Tobias Harris has done an admirable job helping Clippers fans forget about Blake Griffin, but the team’s late-season playoff push is not the result of any one player’s emergence.

The Clippers are proving that when players buy in and play hard, a balanced, deep team can go toe to toe on any given night with one led by a superstar.

Timberwolves fans probably wish the Clippers had figured this out some other time. Just when it started to seem like the top eight in the West were solid, the Clippers have pushed their way back into the conversation. With Los Angeles breathing down their necks, the pressure is on the Wolves and the rest of the conference to keep winning.

A Clippers loss would be nice. While the Suns seem like an unlikely team to help the Wolves tonight, stranger things have happened. Go Suns.