The Denver Nuggets will battle the Minnesota Timberwolves in a game with major playoff implications.
The Denver Nuggets are currently on a three game win streak. In order to sneak into the Western Conference post season, they will have to extend this win streak to four. They will welcome the division rival, Minnesota Timberwolves, into the safe haven which they call the Pepsi Center.
Denver’s star center, Nikola Jokic, will be in for a much tougher test as he will be matched up with another up and coming center, Karl Anthony Towns. A much tougher challenge than Myles Turner, no offense to Turner.
As a result, Paul Millsap will have to be ready to to give help and veteran advice when needed if this team wants to truly snatch a playoff spot away from either Minnesota, New Orleans or Utah.
Both of these squads are going to be without their star shooting guard as well. By now, everyone knows about the blow the Timberwolves have suffered by losing Jimmy Butler for the remainder of the year.
Gary Harris of the Nuggets is still recovering from a knee injury. As a result, both teams will have to be ready to go deeper into their bench than usual.
Thankfully, head coach, Michael Malone, has been inserting other players who have been sitting on the bench all year long lately. Players such as Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez and Richard Jefferson. Now, if only he would play Kenneth Faried. Faried will be crucial in this game if Malone is smart enough to play the Manimal.
The help defense is going to have to be ready in order to deal with the star duo of Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony Towns. Last time, the defense was horrendous when they played.
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Hopefully, Denver carries their positive momentum into this key game.