Well, we thought that the Minnesota Timberwolves would be a good matchup for the Denver Nuggets, and we got our wish after the Wolves dismantled the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 in the final Play-in game on Friday night. The top-seeded Nuggets will host the T-Wolves at Ball Arena for Game 1 of their first round series on Sunday, April 16th at 10:30PM EST on TNT.
Denver should obviously not look past what is a pretty darn talented Timberwolves team, but they surely also know that they are likely to see their playoff nemesis, the Phoenix Suns, in the second round with Kevin Durant now leading the charge. With that and the health of Denver’s rotation in mind, it would be smart to try and put the Timberwolves away in a quick and convincing manner.
We know what MVP finalist Nikola Jokic is capable of, but he’ll have his hands full on offense with former Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert on him. Jamal Murray and Anthony Edwards should have a very interesting matchup too, but the guy who could be the real difference maker, the real x-factor for head coach Michael Malone in this series could very well be Michael Porter Jr.