Did Bill Simmons Jinx Ricky Rubio and The Minnesota Timberwolves?

It's looking like he kinda, sorta did.

Yesterday, I read part one and part two of Bill Simmons' annual "Trade Value Rankings" column.  As we've come to expect with Simmons, it was a good and long (!) read.  I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Simmons take over as GM for an NBA team one day, if that's something he wanted to do.  The guy is always wheelin' and dealin' in his mind.  And it's just one man's opinion, but most of the trade ideas he has make a considerable amount of sense.

So in part two of his column yesterday, Simmons was talking about Ricky Rubio's trade value (Rubio came in at 23rd overall, by the way), and he wrote the following sentence:

"A. Minnesota is going to make the playoffs unless somebody gets hurt."

Annnnnnd, jinxed.  Just like that.  The column was posted yesterday in the early afternoon.  Last night, the Lakers and Timberwolves played, and Rubio tore his ACL, after colliding with Kobe Bryant.  Hmmm, that's a little eerie if you ask me.

Portland 95, Minnesota 81

This game was supposed to be LaMarcus Aldridge against Kevin Love in the battle for who really deserves to be an All-Star.  Instead, Dante Cunningham stole the show.  Cunningham had career highs in both points and rebounds, with 18 and 13, respectively. 

LaMarcus Aldridge took it easy on the Timberwolves and only scored 21.  Wesley Matthews led all scorers with 23, and Rudy chipped in a solid 4 threes and 18 points off the bench.

Kevin Love was held to 12 points and 11 rebounds, which barely extended his streak of double-doubles to a total of 41 games in a row.  I think since he let Dante Cunningham outperform him with 18 points and 13 rebounds, that Love should be forced to let Cunningham take his spot in the All-Star game!  How awesome would that be?

Take that Kevin Love.

Portland 113, Minnesota 102

It's pretty terrifying to think of where the Blazers would be right now without LaMarcus Aldridge.  Aldridge, once again, carried the Blazers on his back to victory.  Aldridge turned in a career-high 37 points on 15 of 24 shooting from the floor, and grabbed 12 rebounds on top of that.

And so the great turn-around continues for LaMarcus.  And personally, as a Blazer fan, I'm loving it.  Since December 15th, Aldridge has averaged 26 points per game and 10 rebounds, and shooting around 54% from the field. 

The craziest part about this turn around is that Aldridge is thriving at a time where, without Brandon Roy, opposing teams know that he's going to be the team's number one option.  It's not like they have to pick their poison between Roy and Aldridge, and lock down one of them while the other one goes for 30 points.

Who else do opposing teams really have to prepare for?  Maybe Wesley Matthews, but surely, Wesley is still not as much of a consistent offensive threat than Aldridge.  At least not right now.

Portland 108, Minnesota 98

Wesley Matthews set a career high with points with 36 and with 3-pointers made with 7.  He scored 31 of his points by halftime.  I understand that playing the T-Wolves doesn't get the competitive juices flowing too much, but the dude should have went for at least 40.  I was disappointed.