Scoreboard watching: Where the Wolves sit in the West on Friday, April 4

There's a possibility of a four-way tie involving the Wolves, Warriors, Clippers and Grizzlies if the scores shake out the right way Friday night.

Apr 3, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards (5) dunks the ball against the Brooklyn Nets during the second half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

It's Friday, April 4 and the Minnesota Timberwolves are in seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race. We're keeping tabs on where the Wolves sit in the standings and all of the key games every day down the stretch of the season because the race for the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth seeds is extremely close.

Key results Thursday in the West:

• Timberwolves 105, Nets 90
• Grizzlies 110, Heat 108
• Warriors 123, Lakers 116

Entering play Friday, the Timberwolves (45-32) control the No. 7 seed. They're tied with the Grizzlies (45-32), but Memphis holds the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Clippers (44-31) are a half-game back of Minnesota and Memphis. In the event of a three-way tie involving the Wolves, Grizzlies and Clippers, the Wolves currently own that tiebreaker because it's based on the best winning percentage in games against each other.

• Wolves: 3-2 (3-0 vs. LAC, 0-2 vs. MEM)
• Clippers 3-3 (0-3 vs. MN, 3-0 vs. MEM)
• Grizzlies 2-3 (2-0 vs. MN, 0-3 vs. LAC)

Meanwhile, the Wolves are only a half-game behind the Warriors (45-31) for the 5-seed and 1.5 games behind the Lakers (46-30) for the 4-seed. Denver (47-30) currently owns the 3-seed and is only two games in front of Minnesota.

Just 2.5 games separate 3rd place from 8th place in the Western Conference, with only a handful of games left. Where will the Wolves finish the season? pic.twitter.com/hXGA9Efgre

— Bring Me The Sports (@BMTNSports) April 4, 2025

Key games Friday in the West:

• Nuggets at Warriors, 9 p.m. CT
• Lakers vs. Pelicans, 9:30 p.m. CT
• Clippers vs. Mavericks, 9:30 p.m. CT

The Lakers are a 13.5-point favorite against the Pelicans; the Clippers are favored by 5.5 over Dallas; and the Warriors are 1.5-point favorites at home against Denver.

If the Pelicans somehow shock the Lakers, Minnesota would be one game behind L.A. entering play on Saturday. In reality, the Lakers will probably be two games ahead of the Wolves because the Pelicans are terrible.

If the Clippers beat Dallas there will once again be a three-way tie between Minnesota, Memphis and the Clippers. That would vault Minnesota back up to sixth and drop Memphis to eighth, with LAC sliding in at No. 7.

If the Warriors lose to the Nuggets and the Clippers beat Dallas, there will be a four-way tie between the Wolves, Warriors, Grizzlies and Clippers. That tiebreaker would be settled by best winning percentage in games against each other, which would favor the Clippers, then the Warriors, Wolves and Grizzlies.

• Wolves: 4-5 (3-0 vs. LAC, 0-2 vs. MEM, 1-3 vs. GSW)
• Clippers 6-3 (0-3 vs. MN, 3-0 vs. MEM, 3-0 vs. GSW)
• Grizzlies 3-6 (2-0 vs. MN, 0-3 vs. LAC, 1-3 vs. GSW))
• Warriors: 6-4 (0-3 vs. LAC, 3-1 vs. MN, 3-1 vs. MEM)

So, in that four-way tie scenario, the Clippers would be No. 5, followed by the Warriors, Wolves and Grizzlies occupying seeds 6, 7, and 8, respectively, entering play Saturday.

That's why the ideal outcome Friday is the Warriors beating the Nuggets. That would keep Minnesota within one game of Golden State and 1.5 games of Denver.

Only five games remain for Minnesota, so there's no room for error as they hope to vault into the top four and get home court in the first round of the playoffs.