The defending champions head into the second round as the series favorite, and rightfully so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nuggets have the best player in the league in Nikola Jokic, and also that cold-blooded<\/p>\n\n\n\n
shooter, Jamal Murray who hit two buzzer-beating winners vs the Lakers. Denver also has the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
championship experience. But don\u2019t count out the Timberwolves who have played extremely<\/p>\n\n\n\n
well as they swept the Suns to advance to the second round. These teams met in the opening<\/p>\n\n\n\n
round last season with Denver moving on in five games but the Timberwolves are a much<\/p>\n\n\n\n
different team than they were in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s one of the most intriguing matchups of the playoffs. A three-time Defensive Player of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Year taking on two-time MVP, and one of the most complete centers of all time. Nikola Jokic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
has had success against Rudy Gobert this season, including in their April 10th meeting where<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Nuggets big man put up 41 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. And in the four regular<\/p>\n\n\n\n
season meetings, Joker averaged 33 points and 12 boards against Gobert. While Jokic is near<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a triple-double average in the playoffs, he also turns the ball over just over three times a game,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
something Gobert will try to expose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anthony Edwards is putting the league on notice that he is the next superstar and his play in the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
playoffs is backing up that claim. The 22-year old was on beast mode against the Suns<\/p>\n\n\n\n
averaging 31 points, 8 boards and 6 assists while shooting 51%. In Game 4 Edwards went off,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
dropping 40 points against his childhood idol, Kevin Durant. The Nuggets better find a way to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
slow him down or this could be a series where Edwards takes it to another level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While you\u2019d think Jamal Murray would be the guy here, we\u2019re going to take a different approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite dealing with family issues (Brother sentenced to jail in car crash, while another<\/p>\n\n\n\n
suspended for life in the NBA for gambling) Michael Porter Jr. was a big part of Denver\u2019s<\/p>\n\n\n\n
success against the Lakers. Porter averaged almost 23 points and shot almost 49% from<\/p>\n\n\n\n
beyond the arc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After dominating the Suns, Minnesota proved it is a major contender to move into the final four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like most NBA playoff series, it will come down to which team\u2019s stars will show up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns are the young guns while Jokic and Murray are proven playoff<\/p>\n\n\n\n
performers who have been here before. All four are capable of making the big shot. And this<\/p>\n\n\n\n
looks like a series that could go the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Timberwolves +165<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nuggets -190<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two teams split the four games they played, alternating wins in every game. And don\u2019t be<\/p>\n\n\n\n
surprised if we see something similar in this 7-game series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nov. 1, 2023: Timberwolves 110<\/strong>, Nuggets 89<\/p>\n\n\n\n March 19, 2024: Nuggets 115<\/strong>, Timberwolves 112<\/p>\n\n\n\n March 29, 2024: Wolves 111<\/strong>, Nuggets 98<\/p>\n\n\n\n April 10, 2024: Nuggets 116<\/strong>, Wolves 107<\/p>\n\n\n\n Game 1: Wolves vs. Nuggets, Saturday, May 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n Game 2: Wolves vs. Nuggets, Monday, May 6<\/p>\n\n\n\n Game 3: Nuggets vs. Wolves, Friday, May 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n Game 4: Nuggets vs. Wolves, Sunday, May 12<\/p>\n\n\n\n Game 5: Wolves vs. Nuggets, Tuesday, May 14 *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Game 6: Nuggets vs. Wolves, Thursday, May 16 *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Game 7: Wolves vs. Nuggets, Sunday, May 19 *<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The defending champions head into the second round as the series favorite, and rightfully so. The Nuggets have the best…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":24911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[162],"class_list":["post-24910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-nba"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSERIES SCHEDULE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n