Timberwolves Win Tiebreaker over Knicks, Get No. 6 Lottery Slot in NBA Draft

The Minnesota Timberwolves won a tiebreaking pingpong ball draw Tuesday against the New York Knicks to land the sixth-seeded position in the 2017 NBA draft lottery. The Knicks will slot in at No. 7.

Ian Begley of ESPN.com passed along the results of the tiebreaker.

The teams finished with identical 31-51 records after the Wolves ended the regular season on a six-game losing streak and the Knicks wrapped up the campaign with a one-point victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

That win ended up costing New York 1.2 percent points in its chance to land the top pick.

Marc Berman of the New York Post noted the Knicks would have had a 6.5 percent shot to pick first if they'd finished below the Timberwolves. Now those odds are evenly split between the teams, with each side holding a 5.3 percent opportunity to select No. 1.

In addition, New York will now pick seventh instead of sixth if the lottery goes according to the odds from No. 14 through No. 7.

John Schmeelk of WFAN joked about the Knicks' win in their finale:

The coin flip will probably have a negligible impact on the draft proceedings. But with Knicks brass trying to show some type of progress, even missing out on 1.2 percentage points in lottery odds and one spot in the draft order feels like a big loss.

The 2017 NBA draft lottery is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16.

For more news, rumors and related stories about the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and the National Basketball Association, check out the NBA, Knicks and T-Wolves streams on Bleacher Report's app.