All Timberwolves

Predicting the final Western Conference standings with 1 week to go

It's the final week of the NBA regular season and there is a logjam in the West.

Joe Nelson

Dec 8, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) hugs Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) at the end of the game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Dec 8, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) hugs Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) at the end of the game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images
In this story:

The Western Conference playoff race is bonkers. The Thunder have clinched the No. 1 seed and the Rockets are likely going to claim No. 2, but the 3-8 seeds are up for grabs as the Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, Timberwolves and Grizzlies are within two games of each other.

Actually, that's not doing the tightness of the race justice because only a half-game separates fourth-place Denver from the Clippers, Warriors, Wolves and Grizzlies, who are all tied at 46-32 entering play Monday. As Bill Simmons posted on X, he "cannot remember seeing anything like this in the final week before."

With the table set, let's give it a go by trying to predict how the final week will play out.

Lakers (48-30)

The Lakers smoked the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Sunday and now they have to play there again Tuesday on the first night of a back-to-back that will take them to Dallas on Wednesday. It's going to be difficult to win two in a row against the 64-win Thunder in their building, so that looks like a 1-1 start to the week. On Friday, the Lakers host the Rockets in their regular season home finale and they wrap up the regular season at Portland on Sunday.

Final record prediction: 51-31

Nuggets (47-32)

They've dropped four straight, seven of ten, and nine of their last 15 games overall. They play Wednesday at Sacramento — they're 3-0 against the Kings this season — and then host the Grizzlies Friday before closing the season at Houston on Sunday. Let's go with the Kings over Denver and then Denver over Memphis. Could Houston be resting starters by Sunday? We think they will be, and that's good news for the Nuggets.

Final record prediction: 49-33

Warriors (46-32)

They have a back-to-back Tuesday-Wednesday at Phoenix and at home against the Spurs. Both look like wins. On Friday, they play at the Blazers. Win. That sets the stage for a mega showdown Sunday at home against the Clippers. The Clippers are 3-0 against Golden State this season, but they haven't played since Dec. 27 and the Warriors are a completely different team now. Looks like the Warriors could sweep the week and finish with 50 wins.

Final record prediction: 50-32

Clippers (46-32)

They too have a back-to-back Tuesday-Wednesday, though both are at home against the Spurs and Rockets. Considering they're 0-3 against the Rockets, we'll take them to split that back-to-back. We'll take the Clippers to beat the Kings in Sacramento on Friday and then lose at Golden State Sunday.

Final record prediction: 48-34

Timberwolves (46-32)

Minnesota plays up and down to the competition and that might be good news to start the week Tuesday against a rested Greek Freak and the Bucks in Milwaukee. We'll take the Wolves to win that game and then we can see them going into Memphis and beating the struggling Grizzlies on Thursday. Throw in a couple of home wins over the Nets and Jazz Friday and Sunday and the Wolves will be riding a nine-game winning streak entering the playoffs.

Final record prediction: 50-32

Grizzlies: 46-32

This looks like a 2-2 week for the Grizzlies with wins Tuesday and Sunday against the Hornets and Mavericks and losses Thursday-Friday to the Wolves and Nuggets.

Final record prediction: 48-34

Western Conference final standings prediction

  1. Oklahoma City Thunder: 68-14
  2. Houston Rockets: 54-28
  3. Los Angeles Lakers: 51-32
  4. Golden State Warriors: 50-32
  5. Minnesota Timberwolves: 50-32
  6. Denver Nuggets: 49-33
  7. Los Angeles Clippers: 48-34
  8. Memphis Grizzlies: 48-34
  9. Sacramento Kings: 40-42
  10. Dallas Mavericks: 39-43

That would set the stage for play-in tournament matchups between the Clippers-Grizzlies and the Kings-Mavericks, with the Thunder and Rockets hosting a best-of-seven first-round series against the two teams that come out of it.

The other first-round matchups would feature the Lakers-Nuggets and Warriors-Timberwolves.

If individual tiebreakers come into play, here's how the Wolves fare:

  • Timberwolves-Lakers: Lakers
  • Timberwolves-Warriors: Warriors
  • Timberwolves-Clippers: Timberwolves
  • Timberwolves-Grizzlies: Grizzlies
  • Timberwolves-Nuggets: Timberwolves

Buck up. This is going to be a crazy week of hoops.

Timberwolves news, rumors and analysis

Published |Modified
Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Joe Nelson has more than 20 years of experience in Minnesota sports journalism. Nelson began his career in sports radio, working at smaller stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before moving to the highly-rated KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. While there, he produced the popular mid-morning show hosted by Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen. His time in radio laid the groundwork for his transition to sports writing in 2011. He covers the Vikings, Timberwolves, Gophers and Twins for On SI.

Home/Minnesota Timberwolves News