Timberwolves-Lakers play-in game: Everything you need to know
MINNEAPOLIS -- For the second straight year, the Minnesota Timberwolves have made it to the play-in tournament. They'll need to win one more game if they want to get to the playoffs proper.
In typical Timberwolves fashion, they've made things as hard on themselves as possible. When they take on the Lakers in Los Angeles Tuesday night, they'll be missing two of their most important players -- center Rudy Gobert and wing Jaden McDaniels. Hilariously -- or upsettingly, depending on your perspective -- both players are out because of punches. Gobert threw one at teammate Kyle Anderson, earning a one-game suspension, while McDaniels fractured his hand when he hit a wall in frustration. He's out indefinitely. Both of these things happened in a win for the Wolves, mind you.
While the pair of punches is the main storyline for the Wolves heading into the postseason, there's plenty more to know about Tuesday's game, which tips off at 9 p.m.
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HOW DOES THE PLAY-IN WORK?
In the NBA's still nascent play-in tournament, the 7th through 10th ranked teams in each conference face off, with the 7 and 8 seeds playing each other and the 9 and 10 seeds matching up.
The winner of the 7-8 game advances to the first round of the playoffs as the 7th seed, but the loser is not yet eliminated. Whoever loses the 9-10 matchup is eliminated, and the winner plays the loser of the 7-8 game. Whoever wins that second game becomes the 8th seed in the playoffs.
The Lakers are currently the 7th seed, and the Wolves the 8th. So, if the Wolves win this game, they're in the playoffs. If they lose, they'll get one more shot against the winner of the 9-10 matchup between the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder.
OTHER INJURIES
Gobert's absence is particularly troublesome for the Wolves, because backup big man Naz Reid is out indefinitely after having wrist surgery. Aside from that, Karl-Anthony Towns was listed as questionable on the latest injury report with a lingering calf strain, but it's hard to imagine he wouldn't play.
The Lakers' latest injury report listed LeBron James, Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell as probable to play.
REVENGE GAME?
Speaking of Russell, Tuesday's matchup has the makings of a revenge game for the one-time Timberwolf who was part of a midseason, three-team trade that brought Mike Conley of the Utah Jazz to Minnesota.
Russell was once seen as part of a Big Three in Minnesota with Towns and Anthony Edwards, but the plan never panned out, and he returned to the team that drafted him in February. In L.A., he's averaged 17.4 points and 6.1 assists a game. When the Lakers visited the Wolves on March 31, Russell had 12 points and 10 assists in a win for L.A.
The Lakers' roster features two other former Wolves, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt. Beasley and Vanderbilt were part of the package the Wolves sent to Utah for Rudy Gobert last summer, and then were shipped to L.A. as part of the three-team Russell trade.
FUTURE MATCHUPS
If the Wolves win Tuesday and earn the 7th seed, they'll see a familiar foe in the first round. The 2nd seed Memphis Grizzlies knocked the Wolves out of the playoffs last year in a series that was more competitive than the final 4-2 tally.
Should they end up with the 8th seed, they'll take on the top-seeded Denver Nuggets, led by potential back-to-back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic.
