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

[Black Jack]

Game 5 @ Denver

Rudy "Abdul" Gobert masterclass incomin' with 28 pts, 20 rebs, 3 asts, 1 stl and 4 blks, including 2 cash 3-pointers

The Jokic-Stopper eliminates the Nuggets in 5 with a 15 pt victory

The Jokic-Stopper was playing 3-D chess, letting Jokic have big games in the regular season to shock him when it counts most in the playoffs, very shrewd, very wise

Or ... maybe the Nuggets have the T-Wolves right where they want them and are ready to come back from a 3-1 deficit?

But Jokic is weak and hesitant, the T-Wolves have imposed their will on the Nuggets

The Nuggets have no mental toughness without a healthy AG

Ant is probably done for this postseason....even if you guys pull it out and win the series it's not much to brag about, your team has major flaws and Jokic looks terrible. At a minimum unless you make a miracle finals run that head coach should be fired, and probably a lot more changes.

The Joker run at McDaniels was weak af.

[Drehova]

Hell of a game by Ayo. But Ant & Donte being out leaves to big of a hole offensively for the Wolves to overcome . Fully expect Denver to win the next 3 games . I’m an OKC fan for the record

[Mk0]

Braun is a good role player...probably the 4th or most likely 5th best player on a contending team. Don't think he's overpaid by a big margin. He had a great playoff run last season but he isn't a guy that can change a series by himself and the Nuggets are doing everything wrong so far against Minny so it's not a surprise to see him struggle. I don't think Braun's contract is Nuggets biggest issue.

Would you want that contract? OKC has like 7 guys that play his role (and better at it) for less money.

[Marvin Martian]

Hell of a game by Ayo. But Ant & Donte being out leaves to big of a hole offensively for the Wolves to overcome . Fully expect Denver to win the next 3 games . I’m an OKC fan for the record

If DEN doesn't clean up their defense then it won't matter how bad MIN's offensive firepower is.

[mademan]

Hell of a game by Ayo. But Ant & Donte being out leaves to big of a hole offensively for the Wolves to overcome . Fully expect Denver to win the next 3 games . I’m an OKC fan for the record

If DEN doesn't clean up their defense then it won't matter how bad MIN's offensive firepower is.

I get the narrative is about that side of the ball, but the defense hasnt been nearly as bad as the offense. Denver has scored <100 in b2b games...you cant win in the NBA with those numbers

[Dadouv47]

Braun is a good role player...probably the 4th or most likely 5th best player on a contending team. Don't think he's overpaid by a big margin. He had a great playoff run last season but he isn't a guy that can change a series by himself and the Nuggets are doing everything wrong so far against Minny so it's not a surprise to see him struggle. I don't think Braun's contract is Nuggets biggest issue.

Would you want that contract? OKC has like 7 guys that play his role (and better at it) for less money.

not really but how much money do you think a guy like Cason wallace deserves in an extension? He's probably gonna get more than what Christian Braun got and while he's a way better defender, his offense is almost non existent.
I love Caruso but do I think he deserves more money in 3 years at 35 years old than Braun in 3 years? not sure.

[Fifii]

Now is the moment that Randle must will shoulder the responsibilities. In the last Play-Off he was been top player , now except G2 he struggled.

He must play like an All-Star and Jaden and Gobert stopped Murray and Jokic. Then Denver lose , it is possible ? I think it is and I’m very surprised that many post here is Denver was back and win the series.

[ball_takes23]

Braun is a good role player...probably the 4th or most likely 5th best player on a contending team. Don't think he's overpaid by a big margin. He had a great playoff run last season but he isn't a guy that can change a series by himself and the Nuggets are doing everything wrong so far against Minny so it's not a surprise to see him struggle. I don't think Braun's contract is Nuggets biggest issue.

Would you want that contract? OKC has like 7 guys that play his role (and better at it) for less money.

yeah pretty strange how OKC fans are the only ones defending Braun's contract when OKC is reluctant to even give Dort the same contract Braun has now, and Dort is 10x the player that Braun is.

[Jailblazers7]

Denver just can’t handle playoff physicality. McDaniels calls them out & they give back to back piss poor efforts while complaining to the refs the entire time. I wish McDaniels shoulda windmilled that **** after seeing Jokic throw his little temper tantrum. Just a soft team, no heart.

[Dadouv47]

Braun is a good role player...probably the 4th or most likely 5th best player on a contending team. Don't think he's overpaid by a big margin. He had a great playoff run last season but he isn't a guy that can change a series by himself and the Nuggets are doing everything wrong so far against Minny so it's not a surprise to see him struggle. I don't think Braun's contract is Nuggets biggest issue.

Would you want that contract? OKC has like 7 guys that play his role (and better at it) for less money.

yeah pretty strange how OKC fans are the only ones defending Braun's contract when OKC is reluctant to even give Dort the same contract Braun has now, and Dort is 10x the player that Braun is.

because OKC would pay 250 millions if we keep Hart/Dort/Caruso and that's not counting on Cason's extension?

I would love to be able to keep Dort.

[ArksNetsSince99]

0-5

This is the aggressive Jokic we dreamed about

You could use some MPJ aggressiveness and scoring right about now

But no , tell me more about the greatness of Cameron Johnson

[ball_takes23]

Would you want that contract? OKC has like 7 guys that play his role (and better at it) for less money.

yeah pretty strange how OKC fans are the only ones defending Braun's contract when OKC is reluctant to even give Dort the same contract Braun has now, and Dort is 10x the player that Braun is.

because OKC would pay 250 millions if we keep Hart/Dort/Caruso and that's not counting on Cason's extension?

I would love to be able to keep Dort.

ok so you understand how that contract would impact your own team, it shouldn't be hard to understand why it would also impact Denver's team as well. I'm sure Denver would love to re-sign Watson this summer, pick up a guard who can actually defend the point of attack and/or pick up a power forward who fits alongside Jokic, it's going to be tough to do any of that now given Braun's contract. Murray's contract is also a big problem too, I think Murray is vastly overpaid as well.

[bisme37]

Read on Twitter

[Dadouv47]

yeah pretty strange how OKC fans are the only ones defending Braun's contract when OKC is reluctant to even give Dort the same contract Braun has now, and Dort is 10x the player that Braun is.

because OKC would pay 250 millions if we keep Hart/Dort/Caruso and that's not counting on Cason's extension?

I would love to be able to keep Dort.

ok so you understand how that contract would impact your own team, it shouldn't be hard to understand why it would also impact Denver's team as well. I'm sure Denver would love to re-sign Watson this summer, pick up a guard who can actually defend the point of attack and/or pick up a power forward who fits alongside Jokic, it's going to be tough to do any of that now given Braun's contract. Murray's contract is also a big problem too, I think Murray is vastly overpaid as well.

I just don't think Braun has such an albatros terrible contract that you can't move. He probably earns 3 millions/year more than he should but it shouldn't cost that much if they want to move on from him.

[BlacJacMac]

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My guess is zero suspensions.

There is no way to suspend anyone without starting with Jokic. You can't spin it in any way that anyone would buy.

And they aren't suspending Jokic for an elimination game.

[levon]

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My guess is zero suspensions.

There is no way to suspend anyone without starting with Jokic. You can't spin it in any way that anyone would buy.

And they aren't suspending Jokic for an elimination game.

I don't think this is about Jokic and Randle, but the benches.

[jack612]

The let Murray off with just a fine when he threw a heat pack onto the floor during play in the second round a couple of years back. Jokic isn't getting suspended for this.

[Black Jack]

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My guess is zero suspensions.

There is no way to suspend anyone without starting with Jokic. You can't spin it in any way that anyone would buy.

And they aren't suspending Jokic for an elimination game.

If they somehow suspend say Rudy and not Jokic the internet will explode, realgm servers will melt down for sure!

[bisme37]

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