These Conference Semifinals series have been nothing but a joy to watch. Plenty of pretty astonishing performances have made some matchups even more competitive, extending the respective series as much as possible.
This has been the case in one West semifinal, Timberwolves vs. Nuggets. With this game taking place on Sunday, May 19th, it is only fair we analyze how each team arrives at the final step of the series.
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets
This series has been quite entertaining to watch, however, it is one of the hardest to predict due to the circumstances that led to this game 7. Despite the Wolves absolutely obliterating the Nuggets in game 6 with a 45-point margin, the outcome of this upcoming matchup is still unclear.
Neither of the past six games has had a close result scoring-wise, but the series has been close overall. So far, the Nuggets average 98.8 Points, 39.3 Rebounds, and 23.8 Assists in the series.
Nuggets’ Current State
Player to Watch: Nikola Jokic
Series Average: 28.2 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 8.0 APG, 52.8 FG%
First and foremost, Denver already has a major advantage prior to game 7, which is the home-court advantage. Even though they have lost two out of three games at home this season, it is still a key factor when deciding a series. When they manage to be on the same wavelength, the Nuggets are an incredibly dangerous, nearly unstoppable team, which was the case in games 3 and 5, where they could take their lead to a 27 and a 25-margin, respectively.
Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon need to perfectly match their play styles to have a chance of winning, exploding the second-chance offensive rebounds, playmaking, and increasing their defense. Obviously, the three-time and current NBA MVP needs to shine as always, as he is undoubtedly the key to either team success or failure.
In terms of offensive chances, so far, the entire team has struggled to maintain a good 3-point shot percentage, which has definitely hurt their performance in the series, also leading to team demoralization, and failure to put up against the Wolves’ offensive streaks. Lastly, Jamal Murray’s health is far from being at 100%, as he suffered from an elbow injury in Game 6 that ultimately impacted his game negatively, where he shot 4/18 field goals.
However, and more importantly, they have the required playoff experience. At the end of the day, they are the defending NBA Champions and have managed to uphold that title pretty well throughout the entire year, which makes us believe they will fight to the very end and can absolutely advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.
text sources: nba.com, basketball-reference.com
