The defending NBA champions will face one tough challenge after another when the Minnesota Timberwolves come to town for Game 1 on Saturday.
Second-seeded Denver emerged early as the favorite to win this second round of the NBA Playoffs series, finishing at -230 on DraftKings and opening the series with the Nuggets -1.5 (-110).
Third-seeded Minnesota defeated the Phoenix Suns in a landslide, and the Nuggets won their first five games against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The price of -230 is a bit surprising considering the Nuggets were -350 championship favorites against the Lakers, but the Lakers have proven they are much more capable of handling.
Denver defeated the Timberwolves in five games in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, but the teams split four games in the 2024 regular season, with Karl-Anthony Towns playing in only one game, and they won by 21 points. .
If Towns is correct, the Timberwolves will be throwing two big bodies at Nikola Jokic, who looked exhausted in Game 5 against the Lakers.
Anthony Davis clearly wore down Jokic in the opening series, and with Rudy Gobert and Towns waiting for him on the other team, the Nuggets will be in a tough spot to advance.
Minnesota’s starting lineup has the third-highest defensive rating of any playoff team, so these games are expected to be long, especially if the Nuggets’ jump shooting doesn’t pan out.
Other alarm bells are Jamal Murray’s calf strain and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s ankle injury sustained Monday night.
Murray looked very healthy on Monday and will have time to rest until Saturday’s first game, but the situation with his calf injury is uncertain. We’ve seen this go wrong in previous instances involving Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant.
On the other hand, we’ve gone this far without talking about Anthony Edwards, who is either the best or second best player in the series.
Edwards posted 31 points, eight rebounds, 6.3 assists and a 43.8 shooting percentage on eight 3-pointers per game against the Suns, marking another step for the league’s up-and-coming star.
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Minnesota quickly defeated the Suns, and with all eyes on the league’s high-profile second series, the Nuggets will need to do everything they can and more.
Let’s see if he’s as ready to knock out the defending champion as he seems.
At this point, if Minnesota doesn’t win outright, this game is projected to place them at least 7th.
Pick: Timberwolves Series Spread +1.5 (-110, DraftKings)
