The Minnesota Timberwolves clinched their spot in the Western Conference playoffs with their win and a loss by the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
The postseason picture isn’t nearly as clear for the Orlando Magic, who will host the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Minnesota (47-32) holds the sixth position in the Western Conference despite a recent three-game skid following its 124-104 road victory over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.
Orlando (43-36) and the Philadelphia 76ers (43-36) are tied for seventh in the East, one-half game ahead of the Charlotte Hornets (43-37).
The Magic have won three straight to move one game back of the sixth-place Toronto Raptors (44-35) and two behind the Atlanta Hawks (45-34) with three games remaining.
Sounds confusing, but it really isn’t. The Magic, 76ers, Hawks, Raptors and Hornets all are still mathematically in play to finish in fifth or sixth place in the East, which guarantees a playoff spot. The three teams falling below sixth place will be relegated to the play-in tournament with a shot to fill the spots for the seventh and eighth playoff seeds.
Paolo Banchero scored 31 points and Desmond Bane added 25 in Orlando’s 123-107 home win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday. The Magic led by as many as 26 in the third quarter.
“We said we wanted to be playing our best basketball at this time,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Winning four of the last six, that says something to what we are doing. It may not always be pretty in every game, but we have to find ways to win.”
Magic guard Anthony Black returned after missing the last 16 games with a left lateral abdominal strain and scored 14 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
Orlando withstood a fourth-quarter rally by Detroit, which pulled within 109-105 with 4:07 remaining. The Magic closed on a 14-2 run to secure the win.
“I like the fact that we responded to that,” Mosley said. “They made their push, they came back. A couple of possessions by us let them off the hook. They did a great job of speeding us up and not allowing us to get into our stuff.”
The Magic are seeking a season sweep against the Wolves after winning 119-92 in Minnesota on March 7.
Ayo Dosunmu scored 24 points, Julius Randle and Bones Hyland added 19 apiece, and Naz Reid contributed 17 in Tuesday’s win over Indiana.
Hyland, a guard, has averaged 19.3 points over his last three games for Minnesota, which is monitoring the health of starters Anthony Edwards and Jayden McDaniels.
Edwards has missed nine of Minnesota’s last 11 games with a right knee injury, while McDaniels has missed the past six games with an injured left knee.
“I think this is a time we have to lean into each other,” Dosunmu said. “We’ve got some guys banged up. We’ve got guys coming back from injury. This is the time where we really can come together as a group and put together some good runs to gain some momentum going into the playoffs.”
Minnesota bounced back from a 122-108 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday by outscoring Indiana 39-24 in the third quarter and cruising to the victory.
“It’s just about trying to keep everybody’s spirit up, understanding that we’re a really good team,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “Just because we hit a tough stretch, injury and whatever we’re dealing with, we have a lot in the tank, we have a very deep team, and we should still go out there and compete.”
–Field Level Media
