Hi y’all! Since there are a lot of questions about this, here’s a breakdown with the math showing why there’s still 2 ways for the Wolves to advance, even with the loss to the Kings.
Source: [https://x.com/JaceFrederick/status/1728291917463740688?s=20](https://x.com/JaceFrederick/status/1728291917463740688?s=20) (Jace Frederick, Wolves beat reporter)
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*WAYS TO ADVANCE IN IST:*
1. **Clinch group** by becoming the team with the best record in the group (if there’s a 2-way tie, head to head record matters, otherwise the point differential is the tiebreaker).
2. **Become the wildcard team** from your conference: team with the best record among teams who did not clinch their group (point differential is the tiebreaker).
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*CURRENT STANDINGS RELEVANT TO US:*
\- Wolves are 2-1 with a -3 point diff.
\- GSW 2-1, +5
\- Kings 3-0, +29
\- Suns are the wildcard team with 3-1 record, +34 point diff
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*SO WOLVES CAN ADVANCE BY:*
1. **Clinching group** by beating OKC by 21 or more, and Kings lose to GSW by 12. This makes Wolves 3-1 with +18 point diff, and Kings and GSW are 3-1 with +17 point diff
2. **Becoming the Wildcard team** by beating OKC by 38. This makes Wolves 3-1, +35 which beats Suns 3-1, +34
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*QUICK NOTES:*
*-* OKC struggles against big teams and don’t rebound well. They lost to the Nuggets by 32 this season. We beat them by 28 in the play-in (although there was no Chet then). On the flip side, OKC as a team shoot very well: 50% FG and 41% from 3.
\- Warriors beating Kings by 12 may be a challenge for GSW unless Steph goes crazy.
by Slim-Ticket
4 Comments
We can’t clinch the group since head to head is the first tie breaker and the kings have that over us. We need to smoke OKC, no other option.
Head to head would be irrelevant if SAC loses to GSW since it would be a 3-way tie.
Wait, so GSW has to win by at least 12 right? But if they get more we’d have just have to beat OKC by that much more