The Minnesota Timberwolves are catching fire

 

                                             (Credit: Matt Blewett/Imagn Images) 

The NBA playoffs are in full swing and one of the upsets underway is the 6th seeded Minnesota Timberwolves taking a 3-1 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers. On Sunday, the Wolves won 116-113 behind 43 points, nine rebounds, and six assists from Anthony Edwards, closing the game out on a 14-6 run. The Wolves took game one in Los Angeles 117-95, lost game two in Los Angeles 94-85, and then bounced back to take game three in Minneapolis 116-104 before winning on Sunday in Minneapolis. 

A major reason for the Wolves' success this postseason is the performance of their star shooting guard Anthony Edwards, who is averaging 29.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game during the series. Edwards is only 23 years of age in his fifth NBA season, playing like a guy who has been in the league for a decade. He makes smart decisions with the ball, knows when to attack the rim, when to pass it out, etc. He's got superstar gifts and isn't solely consumed with getting buckets even though that's what he does best. 

In addition to Edwards, forward Julius Randle has been playing fantastic as well. Randle had 25 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in Sunday's win, averaging 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game for the series. Edwards has needed somebody to be a reliable number two man and Randle has been that. And then of course, other guys like Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid, and Jaden McDaniels have done their part as well. It's been a true team effort. 

If the Wolves can close out the Lakers, don't be surprised to see them make another push to reach the Western Conference Finals like they did last year. And if they get that far, who's to say that they can't reach the NBA Finals? When you got a superstar like Anthony Edwards, you're always in contention. 

Update: The Timberwolves took the series 4-1, defeating the Lakers 103-96 in game five. Rudy Gobert had a ridiculous 27 points and 24 rebounds. 

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The NBA needs to simplify its playoff system

 

                                             (Credit: Jesse Johnson/Imagn Images) 

The NBA playoffs begin later this month on April 19th. Before that, the NBA will hold the "SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament" from April 15th to April 18th. Click here to check the format out on NBA.com. 

In case the graphic the NBA has posted confuses you, you're not alone. I'm well versed in brackets and tournaments, but just looking at the graphic, it's kinda hard to figure out what exactly is going on. From what I can tell, it looks like the winner of the 7/8 game in each conference becomes the 7 seed while the loser plays the winner of the 10/9 game. The winner of that game becomes the 8 seed. The top six seeds are safe and locked into their respective seeds. 

While I love the idea of making things more exciting at the end of the regular season, I find the "Play-In Tournament" to be kinda clumsy. Like, upon looking at the bracket, you can figure it out, but during the game I'm sure there's plenty of confusion of what exactly the hell is going on in terms of what happens to the winner and the loser. 

What I propose is the NBA streamlines and simplifies things. If they want to make things more interesting than just sending the top eight teams to the playoffs from each conference, that's cool. But this play-in tournament just doesn't seem like the right way to do it. 

What I propose the NBA does is simply have a best-of-three game series decide the final two spots in each conference: 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9. If they want to reduce travel, they could have the lower seed be home the first game and then next for the two games (if a third game is necessary) the higher seed could get home court advantage. That would be easy for fans to understand while also rewarding the 7th and 8th seed with home court advantage. You could call it the "NBA Playoff Wild Card" round. You could get the three games done over the course of five days and then start the playoffs. 

What I like about my format is you get the extra playoff action you want, you make each game really intense, and you also have a format that fans can better understand. It's a simple tournament bracket. Top six seeds get a bye. Winner of the 7/10 series faces the the 2 seed. The winner of the 8/9 series faces the 1 seed. 

On top of that, I also propose the NBA brings back best-of-five for the conference quarterfinals. Best-of-five was way more entertaining as it made each game matter a bit more. Best-of-seven isn't ideal because a lot of times these top seeds advance rather easily. But if you make it best-of-five, especially if a team is coming in hot after winning a best-of-three series, you suddenly have a real possibility for some first round upsets, which the NBA playoffs could always use more of. 

Overall, I think my solution is better than what the NBA currently has. Heck, I think just keeping it top eight is better than what the NBA has. Top eight was easy to understand. This whole play in tournament thing that's double elimination is just kinda weird and feels gimmicky. Make it make sense. That's all I'm asking. 

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