The Minnesota Timberwolves do not know their playoff opponent yet.
All they know for sure is they will start the postseason on the road — but not before they play one more home game in their regular-season finale. The Timberwolves (48-33) will tip off against the New Orleans Pelicans (26-55) on Sunday night in Minneapolis.
Minnesota is locked into the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. It will face the No. 3 seed, which will be either the Denver Nuggets or the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Nuggets will secure the No. 3 seed if they beat the San Antonio Spurs or if the Lakers lose to the Utah Jazz on Sunday. If the Nuggets lose and the Lakers win, Los Angeles will seize the No. 3 seed and face the Timberwolves in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans know that a long offseason looms.
New Orleans is looking toward the future after a turbulent regular season that included the firing of head coach Willie Green just 12 games into the season. A central question for the Pelicans revolves around big man Zion Williamson, who could be a candidate for a contract extension or could be a candidate to be traded depending on what the front office decides.
Williamson will not play Sunday. He has been ruled out because of a right knee injury, joining others who have been ruled out including Herbert Jones (rest), Saddiq Bey (rest), Trey Murphy III (right ankle sprain) and Dejounte Murray (bruised left hand).
The TImberwolves also will play with a shortened bench. Top scorer Anthony Edwards (right knee injury maintenance) has been ruled out along with Rudy Gobert (rest), Jaden McDaniels (left knee injury maintenance), Julius Randle (right hand injury maintenance), Ayo Dosunmu (right calf injury maintenance) and others.
Second-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr. will look to stay hot for Minnesota. He scored 33 points on 11-for-14 shooting two games ago against the Orlando Magic and followed that up with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting in his last game against the Houston Rockets.
For the season, Shannon is averaging 5.1 points in 12 minutes per game. That role could increase if Shannon continues his surge on offense.
“Obviously, he’s shooting the heck out of the ball and shooting with a ton of confidence,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He gives us a great option. We have a lot of options right now, which is what you want when you go into the playoffs.
“He did a really good job of mixing it up, too. Getting to the paint, not just settling for the jumper all the time because it was going in, but attacking the (defense).”
Finch said Shannon’s recent success was a product of his great work ethic.
“He’s an incredible worker,” Finch said. “He’s always first in the gym. He’s super duper early in the gym. He’s very meticulous and almost maniacal about his routine.”
Pelicans rookie Micah Peavy also will try to finish the season strong. He is averaging 4.0 points and 1.9 rebounds and has drawn praise from interim coach James Borrego because of his team contributions and his performance on defense.
“Without scoring the basketball, he had an impact on this game,” Borrego said after the team’s last game against the Boston Celtics. “That’s what winning players do.”
