The reigning champion Denver Nuggets are established to suit up against the Minnesota Timberwolves, in the to start with matchup of the 2024 playoffs’ second round, tonight at 4 p.m. PT.
The two outsized Western Convention clubs emerge warm off a pair of dominant quarterfinal collection. The 57-25 Nuggets, the West’s No. 2 seed, immediately dispensed of the No. 7-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, boasting All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis in just 5 video games. The 56-26 Timberwolves, their conference’s No. 3 seed, swept the Phoenix Suns, led by All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, along with previous All-Star guard Bradley Beal.
The two clubs did facial area off against one particular yet another in the course of the first round of the 2023 playoffs, and it was distinct even then that the nascent sort of Minnesota’s core group (veteran starting up place guard Mike Conley, All-Star taking pictures guard Anthony Edwards, then-wounded smaller ahead Jaden McDaniels, 7-foot All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert in the team’s starting off frontcourt, and their backup Naz Reid) could give Denver matches.
The Nuggets won in a 5-sport sequence, but outside the house of a Game 1 blowout, every single other game’s ultimate outcome was inside of single factors. Denver’s ultimate three victories ended up by an average margin of 7 details for every, and Minnesota’s lone win was attained with a a few-level margin, 112-109, in a gutty Recreation 4 additional time victory.
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Minnesota’s mix of measurement, defensive tenacity, and multi-degree scoring is obviously a matchup issue for anybody, but it will make the club uniquely positioned to pester Denver.
The Nuggets have also seemed a little bit sloppier than usual in these playoffs, getting permitted the Lakers to capture double digit rewards in just about every of the 5 video games during their first spherical assembly. Denver is susceptible right now, and Minnesota is all set. Let us see what they’ve got.
Right here are a few important storylines to maintain tabs on as their matchup receives underway.
1. The Anthony Edwards-Jamal Murray Matchup
Granted, they participate in diverse positions, but you can find no dilemma that Edwards, a 22-12 months-old Georgia product, is going to be cross-matched onto Murray defensively all night. Murray has been hampered by a remaining calf pressure for significantly of this ongoing postseason and is thought of basically questionable to go well with up tonight, according to the league’s newest damage report. Edwards is operating at an All-Defensive level, no matter if or not he earns that honor from the NBA, and he’ll be a matchup nightmare for the 6-foot-5 Murray. Murray’s shooting in the postseason has been relatively erratic, but he has designed a handful of clutch buckets when they’ve counted most.
Edwards will almost certainly be mostly defended by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who’s a superior guy-to-man defender than Murray and can afford to be a lot more fatigued offensively. This will make it possible for Murray to choose it a bit simpler versus 36-calendar year-previous vet Conley when Denver is defending.
2. How Minnesota Will Tackle Nikola Jokic
Jokic, who’s likely to make his 3rd MVP award in four seasons at some stage all through these playoffs, is a rather unstoppable drive. Even for the duration of a “down” series against the Lakers, he averaged an crazy 28.2 details on .591/.333/.926 taking pictures splits, 16.2 rebounds, 9.8 helps, and 1.2 steals a night. He usually failed to even appear to score, but as a substitute prioritized cleaning the glass and quarterbacking the offense with his passing.
How will Minnesota head coach Chris Finch game prepare from Jokic this calendar year? Will he opt for a zone defense, with probably 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert manning the middle and a combination of Naz Reid and Karl-Anthony Towns handling him in other places in places? Time will tell, but the Timberwolves can ill manage to allow Jokic get comfortable with his distribution. The most effective way to conquer this workforce is to seal off passing lanes and check out to force Jokic to rating. Sadly, he transpires to be quite superior at that when he’s rolling.
3. The Timberwolves’ Role Player Depth
Minnesota seriously is in a posture to pull off what could be an unbelievable upset in the semifinals, thanks in section to theirs being a little bit of a matchup clean with Denver and in portion to Murray’s questionable well being. The real X-aspect will be the functionality of both of those sides’ part gamers.
When the Nuggets’ top rated 6 (starters Murray, Jokic, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon, additionally reserve Christian Braun) all proved their mettle in their operate to the title previous year, their bench further than that has not truly been particularly steady this time. The group evidently misses reserves Bruce Brown and Jeff Inexperienced, both equally of whom inked worthwhile bargains in other places adhering to their NBA Finals results.
Minnesota will will need all the shooting and defensive enable it can get from its starters, but it will be specially intriguing to see how Reid, who was a short while ago honored as the league’s Sixth Man of the Calendar year, is integrated into Finch’s rotations.
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