Aspirations of a top six berth in the Western Conference saw a boost for the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, with the Minnesota Timberwolves suffering a shock home loss to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans.
The Timberwolves failed to score again after the game was tied at 115 with just over 90 seconds remaining, gifting the Pelicans just their 19th win of the season and the Warriors some slight breathing room in the race for a top six spot.
The Warriors need to capitalize on the gift the Timberwolves just gave them
It's a second-straight home loss for Minnesota after they suffered an overtime defeat to the Indiana Pacers on Monday. Golden State also started the week in poor fashion with a loss against the short-handed Denver Nuggets, but were able to respond on Tuesday in a big win over the Milwaukee Bucks without Stephen Curry.
Wednesday's result means the Warriors are now a full game ahead of the Timberwolves in the standings, while they also crucially hold the season tie-break after finishing 3-1 in head-to-head matchups earlier in the season.
One team who Golden State don't hold the tie-break against is the L.A. Clippers, with the pacific rival still only a game behind with a 39-30 record. The Warriors and Clippers are set to face off in what could be a pivotal final game of the season on April 13.
Elsewhere in the West, the Trail Blazers matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies in Portland provided the second-most important result from a Golden State perspective. The Trail Blazers kept their Play-In Tournament hopes alive with a 115-99 victory, meaning the Grizzlies are now just 2.5 games ahead of the Warriors as the five-seed.
The Houston Rockets solidified their hold on the second-seed with a 116-108 victory over the Magic in Orlando, while a disastrous season for the Dallas Mavericks somehow got worse in sensationally falling to the Indiana Pacers despite holding a seven-point lead with a minute remaining.
The Phoenix Suns were able to take advantage of that, with their victory over the Chicago Bulls tying them with the Mavericks for the 10th-seed. The Sacramento Kings produced a surprise comeback victory over the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers despite the absence of Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine, but the gap between the sixth-seed Warriors and ninth-seed Kings is still 4.5 games.
The Warriors now need to capitalize on Minnesota's shock loss, starting with closing out their seven-game home-stand in strong fashion against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night.