The Nuggets had a lot of questions going into game three and they answered most of them with a resounding 117-90 victory over the Timberwolves. The Wolves now lead their Western Conference Semifinal series 2-1 with a massive game four looming on Sunday evening.
One of the biggest questions for the Nuggets was the health of a few key players, especially Jamal Murray. Murray was dealing with ankle and knee issues in the first round of the playoffs before straining his calf. He’s been nursing a calf injury ever since. He didn’t look like himself in the first two games in Denver, but Murray bounced back in a major way in game three.
He had his best performance of the series and looked as healthy as he has in a long time. The Nuggets were able to benefit from two factors; the long layoff between games two and three gave Murray extra time to rest and heal up, which seemed to work wonders. Also, Murray avoided suspension after throwing a heating pad onto the court during live action in game two.
Now, it’s safe to say the Nuggets have Minnesota’s attention after smacking them around on Friday night. With just one day off it will be interesting to see how the team and the injured players are able to respond for the biggest game of the season.
Nuggets injury report
The Nuggets are listing Jamal Murray (calf), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (abdominal), and Reggie Jackson (calf) as questionable. All three were able to gut it out for game three and I would expect the same on Sunday night. Murray and KCP played heavy minutes and had good games while Jackson provided a boost off the bench.
Hopefully, that wasn’t just a result of the extra time off and these players are actually starting to heal and feel better. The Nuggets will need another great effort from this guard trifecta to even up this series on Sunday.
Timberwolves injury report
Yet again, the Wolves enter game four with a totally clean injury report. They’ll have their entire rotation intact for a pivotal game.
Betting odds
The Timberwolves enter game four as 3.5-point home favorites and the game has a total of 204.5 points.