Friday night features one of the marquee matchups of the entire regular season as the top two seeds in the Western Conference will square off. The 51-22 conference-leading Denver Nuggets host the 50-22 Minnesota Timberwolves.
Both teams are in their final 10 games of the regular season so this game obviously features massive seeding implications. The Wolves have been leading the conference for most of the season, but have dipped a bit since an injury to Karl-Anthony Towns while the Nuggets and Thunder have been surging.
But the Wolves have won three straight and are back within a half-game of the top spot. This should be an awesome game and could be a preview of a West playoff series down the road. But it’s unclear how motivated the teams are.
Home-court advantage would be great, but the top priority for these teams is health and rest going into the playoffs and both have been banged up lately. The injury report is loaded on both sides. The teams also have one more regular season meeting in April, so the losing team will have a chance for revenge.
Nuggets injury report
The good news is that Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon are off the injury report, while Nikola Jokic is listed as ‘Probable’ to play, as he’s been nursing back pain and hip inflammation. The bigger concern lately has been the health of Jamal Murray.
Murray has missed the past three games and his injury designation has actually changed. He missed two games with an ankle sprain, then sat out Wednesday night with knee inflammation. He is listed as ‘Questionable’ for Friday night with the same knee issue.
If Murray’s health is in doubt he should be sitting, but it would be nice to see him get back in the lineup and back in a rhythm before the playoffs arrive. Vlatko Cancar (knee) and Zeke Nnaji (adductor) remain ‘Out’.
Timberwolves injury report
The big stars for the Wolves are all over the injury report as well. Anthony Edwards (back) and Rudy Gobert (rib) are both ‘Questionable’ to play, but these guys both routinely play through minor injuries. I’m expecting them to suit up and push for the one seed. Karl-Anthony Towns is ‘Out’ as he continues to recover from a meniscus injury.
Betting odds
The Nuggets are currently listed as 6.5-point home favorites while the total stands at 211.5 points.