For The Nuggets and Timberwolves Its Win Or Go Home

Wednesday, the Timberwolves host the Nuggets in an unofficial one-game playoff, or play-in game, to decide who gets the Western Conference’s final playoff spot. This is the sixth time in NBA history that the league has had this type of “win or go home” matchup on the final night of the regular season and the first since 1997, when the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) beat the pre-LeBron Cavaliers.

Amazingly, with seeds three through nine only separated by a minuscule two games, the Minnesota/Denver winner not only gets into the postseason, but depending on how some other Western Conference games shake out, could be seeded anywhere from eight to as high as six.

The Timberwolves own the longest current playoff drought in the NBA (13 seasons) and the second longest all-time, only behind a Clippers 15-year stretch, which occurred from 1977 to 1991.

Though nowhere near as dire as the Wolves, the Nuggets have not made the playoffs since 2013.

This should be a good hard-fought contest, with the home team Timberwolves listed as three-point favorites.

Thanks to a last minute decision by the NBA, the game will be nationally televised on NBATV.