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The defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets lost the first two games of their Western Conference semifinal series at home against Minnesota but have won the past three and can close the series Thursday night as it returns to the Twin Cities.

The Wolves are favored on the NBA odds to force a Game 7.

Expert Pick Timberwolves -2.5 (total 204.5)
What´s the Score? Timberwolves 105, Nuggets 103

Denver Nuggets Moneyline +112

Interesting that the defending NBA champion Nuggets are underdogs here considering they have won three straight in the series fairly definitively and won both games in Minneapolis thus far. In Denver on Tuesday night in Game 5, the Nuggets won 112-97. It was the first home win of the series.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic received his third regular-season MVP Trophy ahead of Game 5 and then dominated with 40 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds in 41 minutes. Despite coming up against the Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert, Jokic had no issues getting what he wanted in and around the basket as The Joker became the second player in NBA postseason history to finish a game with at least 40 points, 10 assists, and no turnovers, joining Chris Paul (2018).

Jokic scored 20 of his points against Gobert, going 8-for-9 against him by scoring on finger rolls, up-and-unders, hook shots, bank shots and outside jumpers. It was the 10th time in Jokic’s career that he has scored that many points without a teammate going for at least 20 points. In each of the three playoff games when that phenomenon occurred before Tuesday, the Nuggets lost.

Since Jokic was named this season’s MVP last Wednesday, the Nuggets have won three straight games to take control of the series. In the three victories, Jokic has averaged 33 points, 9.7 assists and 9.3 rebounds and has shot 61% from the field.

“Incredible,” said Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, who had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. “He played amazing. The three-time MVP just dominated the entire game, in every aspect of it. Astounding. That was ridiculous.”

Jamal Murray was fairly quiet with 16 points in 41 minutes. Murray has been considerably better since he scored 25 points on 9-of-32 shooting in the first two games of this series. While Tuesday’s point total was modest, he shot 50% from the field and did most of his damage in the paint. Murray shot 6-of-10 in the paint, with five of those makes occurring in the restricted area. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Denver won despite just six points from Michael Porter on 2-for-10 from the field. He has scored fewer than 10 points in three of the past four games, a very different story when compared to how he opened the playoffs. Getting consistent performances up and down the lineup has helped Denver post stellar offensive ratings the last three games, posting 126 points per 100 possessions in Game 3, 123 in Game 4 and 122 in Game 5.

“I just didn’t think we, collectively, were playing like the reigning champs (after two games),” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “(We) didn’t have a swagger, weren’t playing with confidence, weren’t playing with aggression. Give them credit: They had something to do with that. That Game 2 served as a great reminder of who we need to get back to being both offensively and defensively.”

Minnesota Timberwolves Moneyline -137

The Timberwolves were without starting guard Mike Conley in the Game 5 loss due to a sore right Achilles and he likely will be questionable Thursday. Conley suffered the injury on the Timberwolves’ final offensive possession of Game 4, when he missed a 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining of a 115-107 loss. Conley is averaging 11.3 points and seven assists over 31.8 minutes in these playoffs.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker stepped into Conley’s starting spot on Tuesday, finishing with 15 points (on 5-for-12 shooting), two rebounds and five assists in 39 minutes. Monte Morris played 11 minutes off the bench as Alexander-Walker’s backup, finishing with six points, two rebounds and three assists.

The Wolves lost in large part because superstar Anthony Edwards had his worst game of the series, finishing with 18 points on 5-of-15 shooting. He was averaging 32.1 points per game on 56% shooting this postseason before Tuesday. He racked up nine assists without Conley, but Denver played him to pass. He frequently saw a second defender when he tried to navigate screens. His jump shot finally cooled off mainly against Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Nuggets were able to blanket Edwards with extra attention and multiple defenders all game in part because they didn’t have to worry about Conley.

“This was crazy,” Edwards said of the Nuggets’ schemes centered on stopping him. “Today was crazy, for sure. Yeah, today was wild.”

Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points, six rebounds and four assists. Already playing without Conley, the Timberwolves experienced an injury scare with Towns during the first half of Tuesday’s game. He appeared to bang his knee on the leg of Denver’s Caldwell-Pope. Towns did have to exit the game, but only briefly, as he returned after spending a few minutes on the exercise bike. The 23 points are the most KAT has scored in a game since Game 2 (27 points). However, his minus-17 rating was the worst among the Timberwolves who saw action on Tuesday.

Fellow big man Rudy Gobert shot 7-of-7 from the field and 4-of-7 from the foul line in Tuesday’s loss to the Nuggets, accounting for 18 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks in 40 minutes. Gobert recorded a solid overall stat line in Tuesday’s Game 5. But the conversations will be dominated by the fact that he was Nikola Jokic’s primary defender for most of the night.

“It comes down to Game 6 at home and that’s exactly where we want to be,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “A lot of game, a lot of series left, we’ve got to force it into a Game 7, but most importantly, we’ve got to regroup, get guys focusing on what we need to do and they’ve been good at that all season. So, we’ll be ready.”

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Nuggets at Timberwolves Info

When: Thursday, 8:30 PM ET
Where: Target Center
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com

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2024 Nuggets vs Timberwolves Playoffs Odds Game 3

If the Denver Nuggets have any shot of repeating as NBA champions, they have to win Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series at Minnesota on Friday night considering the Timberwolves already lead 2-0. They are solid favorites on the NBA odds.

Denver has 3 major injuries: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Reggie Jackson and Jamal Murray; will they be able to tip the scales a bit?

Expert Pick Timberwolves -4.5 (total 204.5)
What´s the Score? Timberwolves 107, Nuggets 104

Denver Nuggets Betting Odds +116

The Nuggets have lost the first two games of a playoff series at home for the first time. OK, we somewhat understood dropping Game 1. But, wow, getting blasted 106-80 in Game 2 was stunning considering the Timberwolves were without Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert after his first child was born early Monday. The Nuggets were frustrated all night, arguing with officials, etc. Coach Michael Malone was just begging to get kicked out but never was.

Starting guard Jamal Murray, the team’s second-best player, was terrible in Game 2 and lucky he wasn’t suspended for Game 3. Murray threw a towel toward the court during the second quarter Monday and then tossed a heat pack that made it onto the court during live play. Referee crew chief Marc Davis said Murray would have been assessed with a technical foul if they knew Murray had thrown the heat pack. He has been fined $100,000 by the NBA. Murray, who scored just eight points on 3-of-18 shooting, has been battling a calf injury during the playoffs.

Nikola Jokic has been good but not great in the series. He had 16 points on just 5-for-13 shooting along with 16 rebounds, eight assists and one block across 39 minutes during Game 2. He should have dominated considering Gobert was out. Jokic is averaging 27.0 points, 15.0 rebounds and 9.4 assists per game through seven playoff contests.

“I think they’re just draped all over Joker. I think they’re just hacking him. They’re hacking,” teammate Aaron Gordon said of this series. “Yeah, and just not being able to communicate with the officials is frustrating as well. When you have to ask them a question and they don’t even look at you, they don’t even acknowledge you, very frustrating. And I think they’re hacking Joker. I think he’s been getting fouled all year. I don’t think he shoots nearly enough free throws, of what he should shoot. So yeah, it was just frustrating. I don’t like seeing my big fella get hacked with no calls.”

Michael Porter Jr. barely showed up in Game 2 with only nine points in 39 minutes. Gordon might have been the best Denver player with 20 points and four rebounds. Backup point guard Reggie Jackson tallied three points on 1-for-6 shooting in 10 minutes.

Already dealing with a sore left ankle, Jackson hobbled off the court during the fourth quarter with tightness in his left calf. While Denver announced that he was questionable to return, the veteran point guard remained in the locker room. The only production Denver received from its bench in Game 2 was from Justin Holiday, who shot 4-of-5 from three and finished with 13 points, two rebounds, and one assist.

If Denver can come back from a 2-0 deficit, it would rank right up there with the two 3-1 series comebacks the team had from the bubble in the 2020 playoffs. This Timberwolves squad is healthier, deeper and hungrier than the Nuggets as the series shifts to Minneapolis.

Last postseason, the Nuggets were 10-1 in Denver. This year, they’re 3-2, and two of those wins required last-second shots from Murray.

Minnesota Timberwolves Betting Odds -141

The Timberwolves appear younger, more athletic and simply hungrier than the defending champs. The 106-80 beatdown in Game 2 was a masterclass on defense. The Wolves’ rotations, aggression, hustle and quick hands were superb. The Nuggets were held to 35 points in the first half, 15 in the second quarter, and a season-low 80 for the game.

“It’s been our identity all year,” said coach Chris Finch. “We got some really good defensive efforts on the ball, off the ball, physicality, execution of the gameplan, doing it over and over again. “The physical and mental toughness was great. We really went after it on defense.”

And this was without center Rudy Gobert, who won his record-tying fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award earlier this week. The 31-year-old also won the honor in 2018, 2019 and 2021 with the Utah Jazz and joins Hall of Fame centers Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only four-time winners. Gobert will play in Game 3.

By far Minnesota’s best player in these playoffs has been All-Star guard Anthony Edwards, who is now a flat-out star. Edwards notched 27 points, seven assists and two steals in Game 2. The former No. 1 overall pick couldn’t repeat the 43-point performance from Game 1, but he was highly efficient. Edwards has been almost unstoppable since the start of the playoffs and is averaging 32.3 points per game while keeping the Timberwolves undefeated through six games contests so far.

Karl-Anthony Towns really stepped up with Gobert out and had 27 points and 12 boards. It was KAT’s third double-double over his last four playoff appearances, and he’s expected to return to his role at power forward for Game 3.

While Edwards and KAT led the offensive attack for the Wolves, it was fellow starter Jaden McDaniels who turned in the game’s best plus-minus mark (+26) despite recording as many fouls as points (5) and making just 2-of-7 shots from the floor.

“He hasn’t connected in the scoring column, but my God, he’s a +26. The other day he was a +23,” Finch said. “He didn’t have a bucket. He’s got five points in the series and he’s a +50. It’s not about how you score, it’s about how you help your team win.”

Nickeil Alexander-Walker was excellent off the bench with 14 points and six rebounds. Alexander-Walker averaged just 8.0 points per game during the regular season, but he’s taken his play to another level in the playoffs, scoring in double digits in four of his six appearances while upping his scoring average to 11.3 points per game.

The Wolves, like they did with Phoenix last series, didn’t just win the game, they seemed to break the Nuggets’ soul in holding them to 35% shooting and forcing 19 turnovers.

“The body language of our guys is not where I think it needs to be,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after Game 2. “We got beat up in our building. We got embarrassed in front of our fans.”