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

[bisme37]

Game 1: Nuggets win 116-105
Game 2: Wolves win 119-114
Game 3: Wolves win 113-96
Game 4: Wolves win 112-86
Game 5: Monday April 27, 10:30pm ET on NBC/Peacock






(continued from here: https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2505008 )

[JXL]

This series is exactly why I don't underestimate this T-Pups team. Antman elevates their ceiling when he's going off.

[Klomp]

I said this all the way back on Page 2 of the original thread:

I think one thing that Minnesota will look to do once again is to wear Jokic out physically. Yes, the typical method for that is through physical defense, but I also would say that this year's Timberwolves are better equipped to wear down Jokic on the other end of the court.

That's EXACTLY what Minnesota did in Game 2, and it helped them secure the victory and steal home-court advantage.

[ReggiesKnicks]

I said this all the way back on Page 2 of the original thread:

I think one thing that Minnesota will look to do once again is to wear Jokic out physically. Yes, the typical method for that is through physical defense, but I also would say that this year's Timberwolves are better equipped to wear down Jokic on the other end of the court.

That's EXACTLY what Minnesota did in Game 2, and it helped them secure the victory and steal home-court advantage.

Well said

[lethalizer]

I am still skeptical when it comes to Ant's health, but if he can become the best version of himself for 3 of these games, Wolves can absolutely win this series.

Gordon doesn't look right, and Adelman has caught Malone-itis in that he doesn't trust his bench at all. He should.

Maybe it's in the Colorado air, I don't know.

[Klomp]

Things are different now. Gordon will take and make those corner threes even if you let him shoot 20 of them.

You mean like how he took 17 of them in that series, and made 10 of them?

For the record, I don't expect Minnesota to match up the same way. It will probably be Gobert on Jokic most of the time when both of them are on the court.

However, I think the overall defensive philosophy will remain the same. Make Jokic a shooter rather than a passer, but willing to live with 3-pointers from Gordon and Braun over Murray, Johnson and Hardaway. If Gordon goes 10-17 again, it doesn't mean it's a death knell.

Gordon is 2-9 in the series so far. He's taking them, but he's not really making them.

Let Gordon shoot!

[Chuck Everett]

Every game is winnable for either team. I don't have a favorite tomorrow.

[Klomp]

I am still skeptical when it comes to Ant's health, but if he can become the best version of himself for 3 of these games, Wolves can absolutely win this series.

Gordon doesn't look right, and Adelman has caught Malone-itis in that he doesn't trust his bench at all. He should.

Maybe it's in the Colorado air, I don't know.

Watch on YouTube

A really good breakdown highlighting how that arguably helped cost Denver the game on Monday night.

[Klomp]

Every game is winnable for either team. I don't have a favorite tomorrow.

For sure! I'm definitely not here saying Minnesota will win out the rest of the way. I'd be shocked if that happened! I just think many people underestimated Minnesota's chances coming into the series. Even many Timberwolves fans have underestimated their own team through most of the season.

[lethalizer]

I am still skeptical when it comes to Ant's health, but if he can become the best version of himself for 3 of these games, Wolves can absolutely win this series.

Gordon doesn't look right, and Adelman has caught Malone-itis in that he doesn't trust his bench at all. He should.

Maybe it's in the Colorado air, I don't know.

Watch on YouTube

A really good breakdown highlighting how that arguably helped cost Denver the game on Monday night.

Yeah I watched this already. I'm still not favoring the Wolves in this series outright because this is not out of the norm for Denver, they looked dead and buried last season in the first round after a 34 point loss against the Clippers as well, they trailed 2-1 after that. Yet, they fought back and won the series.

It's a weird team. Playoffs are fun. We'll see how it goes.

[Deivork]

Wolves earned their win in G2. Nuggets also kinda threw it away. Nuggets love to get 7-game series. Jokic needs to be aggresive early. Credit to Gobert, but Jokic needs to be aggresive on Gobert early. I miss an extra ball handler, Bruce Brown not quite that, though he played a good game. The 2 man game was overdone, Adelman needs to get creative and the whole team be more disciplined or the Wolves will take this.

[Wolfgang630]

Gobert was as fresh as can be. That played a very big part in the 4th quarter. Jokic still has no backup 5 throughout his whole prime. I thought Val was gonna be good enough, but he makes boneheaded plays out there

[Deivork]

Murray needs to pass more to other people other than Jokic. DiVincenzo has been key. They're not here without him. What a character player, amazing. Reid will play better in Minny, so will the rest of the role players. This one just got closer than I would have thought. Ant being kind of all right being the key part in this. Credit to Randle, Ayo and Finch too.

[lethalizer]

Gobert was as fresh as can be. That played a very big part in the 4th quarter. Jokic still has no backup 5 throughout his whole prime. I thought Val was gonna be good enough, but he makes boneheaded plays out there

No offense, but if you thought JV was a valuable backup for Jokic come playoff time, that's kinda on you.

[cupcakesnake]

When our small ball lineup cooked them in the 2nd quarter, I knew Denver was in trouble.

At one point we had Conley/Ayo/Ant/Ju/Naz. That's as small as we can possibly get. It's also a joke defensive lineup. Denver shouldn't stress too much if that lineups scores, but when they're not demolishing that group on defense, that's alarm bells going off.

Anyways. We've played Denver 30 times in the past 3 seasons. We're 15-15. Something dramatic would have to change for this series not to be a long, drawn out coin flip.

I think Denver is the better team, but we lots of nice little edges on them. The way Minnesota crushed their paint protection in game 2 should worry Nuggets fan, because that's the one thing they can't fix.

[cupcakesnake]

Things are different now. Gordon will take and make those corner threes even if you let him shoot 20 of them.

You mean like how he took 17 of them in that series, and made 10 of them?

For the record, I don't expect Minnesota to match up the same way. It will probably be Gobert on Jokic most of the time when both of them are on the court.

However, I think the overall defensive philosophy will remain the same. Make Jokic a shooter rather than a passer, but willing to live with 3-pointers from Gordon and Braun over Murray, Johnson and Hardaway. If Gordon goes 10-17 again, it doesn't mean it's a death knell.

Gordon is 2-9 in the series so far. He's taking them, but he's not really making them.

Let Gordon shoot!

I dunno. The man is a 40% 3-point shooter over the past 2 seasons (playoffs included).

[UcanUwill]

You mean like how he took 17 of them in that series, and made 10 of them?

For the record, I don't expect Minnesota to match up the same way. It will probably be Gobert on Jokic most of the time when both of them are on the court.

However, I think the overall defensive philosophy will remain the same. Make Jokic a shooter rather than a passer, but willing to live with 3-pointers from Gordon and Braun over Murray, Johnson and Hardaway. If Gordon goes 10-17 again, it doesn't mean it's a death knell.

Gordon is 2-9 in the series so far. He's taking them, but he's not really making them.

Let Gordon shoot!

I dunno. The man is a 40% 3-point shooter over the past 2 seasons (playoffs included).

Gordon can shoot, but he yet to be a real floor spacer. Its kinda like, Domantas Sabonis is 40% 3 point shooter, but not like anyone going to guard him at the 3 point line really. I know GOrdon takes and makes more, but it does not look like its enough to warrant a real attention even now.

[Alatan]

I am still skeptical when it comes to Ant's health, but if he can become the best version of himself for 3 of these games, Wolves can absolutely win this series.

Gordon doesn't look right, and Adelman has caught Malone-itis in that he doesn't trust his bench at all. He should.

Maybe it's in the Colorado air, I don't know.

Watch on YouTube

A really good breakdown highlighting how that arguably helped cost Denver the game on Monday night.

Yeah I watched this already. I'm still not favoring the Wolves in this series outright because this is not out of the norm for Denver, they looked dead and buried last season in the first round after a 34 point loss against the Clippers as well, they trailed 2-1 after that. Yet, they fought back and won the series.

It's a weird team. Playoffs are fun. We'll see how it goes.

Denver is a weird team indeed. Its like they wait for things to get dire to have motivation to actually play to their potential. They thrive in the underdog position but are awful if considered the favorites.

[TheNG]

Nuggets in 4.

[Klomp]

Gordon is 2-9 in the series so far. He's taking them, but he's not really making them.

Let Gordon shoot!

I dunno. The man is a 40% 3-point shooter over the past 2 seasons (playoffs included).

Gordon can shoot, but he yet to be a real floor spacer. Its kinda like, Domantas Sabonis is 40% 3 point shooter, but not like anyone going to guard him at the 3 point line really. I know GOrdon takes and makes more, but it does not look like its enough to warrant a real attention even now.

Sabonis is an interesting comparison that illustrates my point.

The thing about the shooting number this season is that it is so heavily weighted by the 10-11 performance in the season opener. Take that out and he shot 34.9% this season. One game should not affect a season percentage that much if he is a dangerous shooter.

Can this come back to bite me? Of course. But I'm willing to live and die by Aaron Gordon 3-pointers rather than for him to attack and shift the defense for Jokic and Murray. That is where their offense is truly dangerous!