2026 NBA Playoffs - West First Round - #3 Denver Nuggets vs #6 Minnesota Timberwolves (Series tied 1-1)

[AbeVigodaLive]

It can be argued that both teams are "better" than their records.

Minnesota talked early in the season about the challenge of the regular season after a couple of deeper playoff runs. And they played like they were just waiting for the playoffs at several points during the season. There will be a lot to learn from this team over the next couple of weeks. Is it a legitimately good team that can take on Denver and even win? Or, was the "waiting for the playoffs" attitude just a mask for bigger issues behind the scenes.

All along, almost every Wolves player has claimed to be super tight and connected off the court. Funny... because they don't look like it on the court A LOT of the time. They also haven't (1) played the best lineup for about a month... and (2) they were playing terribly together when everyone was last healthy.

At the same time, even Minnesota's best might not be enough vs. Denver. The Nuggets had the league's best offense even without key guys in the lineup for much of the season. On paper, it seems to be their most talented roster. Heck, a guy like Tim Hardaway signed for the vet minimum.

This is all super high level stuff... but one other thing: Everything is in the margins in the playoffs. And Jokic is able to do the little manipulative things for a call here or there when needed. Edwards is not. I'll take those extra couple of points per game...along with the superior roster, proven success...

Nuggets in 6. Maybe 5.

[falcolombardi]

It can be argued that both teams are "better" than their records.

Minnesota talked early in the season about the challenge of the regular season after a couple of deeper playoff runs. And they played like they were just waiting for the playoffs at several points during the season. There will be a lot to learn from this team over the next couple of weeks. Is it a legitimately good team that can take on Denver and even win? Or, was the "waiting for the playoffs" attitude just a mask for bigger issues behind the scenes.

All along, almost every Wolves player has claimed to be super tight and connected off the court. Funny... because they don't look like it on the court A LOT of the time. They also haven't (1) played the best lineup for about a month... and (2) they were playing terribly together when everyone was last healthy.

At the same time, even Minnesota's best might not be enough vs. Denver. The Nuggets had the league's best offense even without key guys in the lineup for much of the season. On paper, it seems to be their most talented roster. Heck, a guy like Tim Hardaway signed for the vet minimum.

This is all super high level stuff... but one other thing: Everything is in the margins in the playoffs. And Jokic is able to do the little manipulative things for a call here or there when needed. Edwards is not. I'll take those extra couple of points per game...along with the superior roster, proven success...

Nuggets in 6. Maybe 5.

Is not that rare, you can be friends with someone and not do some thinghs [like ball] too well together, chris paul couldnt make carmelo work in houston despite being close with him

[lethalizer]

Before the Ayo Dosunmu addition I was low on the postseason expectations for Minnesota.

He has been an incredible addition that's getting overlooked by a lot of people I feel like.

Yes, the Wolves are prone to dumb mistakes (even in playoffs) and I don't particularly like Finch's coaching, he tends to tap the panic button way too early when things don't go his way and doesn't trust his team's process.

That being said, I have the Nuggets in 7 here. Denver has an all time offense, but they'll have to sacrifice some of that so they can play playoff level defense. Minnesota is already a more balanced team on both ends of the floor, with the overall quality going slightly in favor of Denver.

I'm very curious about the playoff performances of THJ, Dosunmu and Cam Johnson on their new teams. All three of these guys can be the X factor for any given game.

THJ has had a brilliant season so I assume the Wolves will try to target the hell out of him on D whenever he's on the floor.

Cam has come back to life after looking like a dead fish on the water for some stretches, if he's confident shooting that ball he'll be a difference maker.

Dosunmu has actually been top 10 in official three point shooting leaderboards this season, him being able to punish Denver's inevitable zone will be a talking part of this series.

Another thing I'm curious about is Val's minutes against the Wolves. He has to have some productive minutes against this team to keep Nikola alive, and if the Wolves are smart they'll try to spam every PnR known to mankind to just abuse him on that end.

Will probably be the most fun matchup in the whole first round, so I hope it lives up to the hype.

[Chuck Everett]

Naz Reid and Donte DiVicenzo have to shoot well. More and more it's looking like that season he (Donte) had with the Knicks two years ago was an outlier for his career.

[moss_is_1]

Naz Reid and Donte DiVicenzo have to shoot well. More and more it's looking like that season he (Donte) had with the Knicks two years ago was an outlier for his career.

Going to piggyback off of this. Naz, Jaden, Ant need to be fully healthy. Naz has been struggling with his shoulder, Ant and Jaden were out and just came back. Donte hasn't played very well in the post-season, this is a big chance for him.

Should be a fantastic series, IF Wolves are healthy I take them in 6. However, I think we are banged up and will lose in 7. I just think Murray has elevated his game, as well as Gordon. Jokic has the deepest team maybe ever with how their young guys and THJ/Brown have been playing.

[ooy68utfjuxdg]

Jokic and the Nuggets begin their march to a 2nd championship against the T-Wolves, Fam

This is the prophecy, Mile High Might 4Ever

Nuggets defeat the T-Wolves 4-1, book it!

[BelgradeNugget]

Thing that shouldn't be overlooked is Nuggets rn have only 1 healthy player to guard Ant (Braun) and 1 healthy player to guard Randle/Reid (Gordon). They will need healthy Jones, and Watson too. We don't know when will they be able to come back.

[BigGargamel]

Pretty impressive that Denver ended the season winning 12 in a row, and 54 games on the season, considering all the injuries. I feel pretty good about their chances against anyone except probably the Thunder. Let's go!!!

[ooy68utfjuxdg]

Nuggets Country, We Shall Win the Championship

Rd. 1: Nuggets defeat T-Wolves 4-1
Rd. 2: Nuggets defeat Spurs 4-2
Conf. Finals: Nuggets defeat Thunder 4-2
NBA Finals: Nuggets defeat Hawks 4-1

You wanted Joker's Hakeem the Dream playoff run, Fam, and that's what you're going to get, book it

[AleksandarN]

I was looking at these rosters to see what's changed from 2024 to 2026 when Minnesota beat Denver in 7 in what was considered a mild upset at the time.

Denver big differences:
Cameron Johnson replacing MPJ
Peyton Watson replacing KCP
+Bruce Brown

Minnesota big differences:
Randle replacing KAT
Donte replacing NAW
+ Ayo

Obviously some internal growth on both teams. Denver is the hottest team in basketball so it will be interesting to see if Minnesota can raise their level of play from what was an underwhelming regular season.

I'm picking a safe and boring Denver in 6.

You forgot THJ who is the second or third highest scorer from the bench this year. Denver has a lot more shooters than they did last time

[Klomp]

If I remember right from two years ago, there were people who said that while Denver had the best player in the series, Minnesota had the next 5 or 6 top players. Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr all struggled.

I think that could be a key this time.....can Minnesota slow down Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon enough to let their depth of talent overwhelm the Nuggets?

[AleksandarN]

The Wolves have been very inconsistent lately but there's no doubt in my mind that they will be 100% up for this. Minny as a playoff underdog is nightmare fuel.

The teams have changed since 2024 but the Wolves (McDaniels in particular) can still frustrate and limit Murray with their size. On offense they need to attack the rim relentlessly, Ant especially shouldn't fall in love with his 3 too much. Denver really doesn't have anyone to handle him if he's attacking the basket.

All that said, I think Denver has enough depth now on offense to handle a subpar Murray series so I'm going Nuggets in 7.

Who is going to defend Cam and AG?

[Klomp]

Pretty impressive that Denver ended the season winning 12 in a row, and 54 games on the season, considering all the injuries. I feel pretty good about their chances against anyone except probably the Thunder. Let's go!!!

Worth noting that only 4 of those games were against teams that finished Top 6 in their conference....and two of the four were the last two games of the season against teams that had no real incentive to try to win and adjusted their lineups accordingly.

[Klomp]

The Wolves have been very inconsistent lately but there's no doubt in my mind that they will be 100% up for this. Minny as a playoff underdog is nightmare fuel.

The teams have changed since 2024 but the Wolves (McDaniels in particular) can still frustrate and limit Murray with their size. On offense they need to attack the rim relentlessly, Ant especially shouldn't fall in love with his 3 too much. Denver really doesn't have anyone to handle him if he's attacking the basket.

All that said, I think Denver has enough depth now on offense to handle a subpar Murray series so I'm going Nuggets in 7.

Who is going to defend Cam and AG?

Keep in mind that Jaden's primary matchup in that series was actually MPJ, not Murray. Ant took a bunch of the heavy lifting in the Murray matchup.

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[E-Balla]

Nuggets in 6, but honestly they should sweep on paper. Like Ant is hurt, they're finally healthy, and their roster is incredible. I just don't see it happening though. Like idk how Minyan will defend Jokic at all (Big Jelly?) without cooking their offense and I still don't trust Denver to sweep them.

[Klomp]

Nuggets in 6, but honestly they should sweep on paper. Like Ant is hurt, they're finally healthy, and their roster is incredible. I just don't see it happening though. Like idk how Minyan will defend Jokic at all (Big Jelly?) without cooking their offense and I still don't trust Denver to sweep them.

Saying Ant is hurt is equivalent to saying Jokic and Murray and others are hurt...

[NyKnicks1714]

Nuggets Country, We Shall Win the Championship

Rd. 1: Nuggets defeat T-Wolves 4-1
Rd. 2: Nuggets defeat Spurs 4-2
Conf. Finals: Nuggets defeat Thunder 4-2
NBA Finals: Nuggets defeat Hawks 4-1

You wanted Joker's Hakeem the Dream playoff run, Fam, and that's what you're going to get, book it

Why did you have to make this post unnecessarily extra-ridiculous?

[E-Balla]

Nuggets in 6, but honestly they should sweep on paper. Like Ant is hurt, they're finally healthy, and their roster is incredible. I just don't see it happening though. Like idk how Minyan will defend Jokic at all (Big Jelly?) without cooking their offense and I still don't trust Denver to sweep them.

Saying Ant is hurt is equivalent to saying Jokic and Murray and others are hurt...

Ant, who almost never misses games 19 games missed in his first 5 seasons), has played like 70 minutes in the last month. Maybe it's no biggie, but he missed the 65 game mark as a guy that never misses games on a team full of guys that don't miss games, and they have a weak bench and could've had a top 3 seed if they had Ant playing the last month so I assume the injury is a big deal.

[shrink]

Nuggets in 6, but honestly they should sweep on paper. Like Ant is hurt, they're finally healthy, and their roster is incredible. I just don't see it happening though. Like idk how Minyan will defend Jokic at all (Big Jelly?) without cooking their offense and I still don't trust Denver to sweep them.

Saying Ant is hurt is equivalent to saying Jokic and Murray and others are hurt...

Ant, who almost never misses games 19 games missed in his first 5 seasons), has played like 70 minutes in the last month. Maybe it's no biggie, but he missed the 65 game mark as a guy that never misses games on a team full of guys that don't miss games, and they have a weak bench and could've had a top 3 seed if they had Ant playing the last month so I assume the injury is a big deal.

Ant looked very far from being hurt in the last two games, simply warm up games. Once he missed the 65 game limit (he got sick to miss one too many), I think the front office started intentionally resting him. In both of the two previous WCF runs, multiple players said they ran out of gas in the last series, not physically ready for their 90-somethingth games in one season. I expect he’s 100%.

I would also not underestimate the Wolves bench. Before the deadline, this was a huge problem, and the Wolves only had one legit bench player - Naz Reid. In fact, the Wolves win/loss record was often tied to whether he scored 15 points or more, because Mike Conley and Rob Dillingham were providing them nothing. Fortunately though, Tim Connelly added Ayo Donsumu at the deadline, whose speed and attitude have been exactly what the Wolves needed. Also, don’t neglect the importance of picking Kyle Anderson back up, who is a great connector and knows how to play with the team. Finally, TJ Shannon is finally healthy, and has scored 33, 23, and 26 in his last three warm up games. Bottom line though, 6MOY Naz, Ayo, and SloMo will complete the 8-man rotation, and in the playoffs, only the top three or four bench players really matter.

[AleksandarN]

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