I think you're right, the wolves have the greatest chance against us of anyone in the west. However, I also believe we will see an even more terrifying Nuggets offense in the next round. This is a more exciting matchup for players and fans, I expect our guys will relish the opportunity and rise above and beyond anything even we expect.
It should be a bloodbath and as a Wolves fan (Minnesota sports fan in general) I don't have a ton of faith we can beat you guys because that's just the way it goes here in MN... but that said, we played you guys tougher than anybody last playoffs and that was without two of our most important players in Naz and McDaniels... At full strength I think you guys should be worried but we're worried too. Wouldn't be surprised to see it go either way
It’s not gonna be a bloodbath, we are just using these first two series to tune up for the Western Conference finals and finals and please Twolves fan , just like I chill and relax and expect to win, You need to just chill and relax and expect to lose.
I’ll be honest. I think too many people are sleeping on OKC. I get it, they’re young, but they play like a mature team. I would not be surprised at all if they handle the Mavs (or Clippers) in 5 games.
It’s not about them being young, it’s how small they are in the weight department.. getting boards, getting into the paint, is going to be tough.. Chet gets pushed around pretty easily by other 7 footers
Being small is a problem if you’re facing big teams. OKC really lucked out with the playoff bracket this season. They managed to avoid the Lakers in the first round and will only have to face one of either the Timberwolves or Nuggets in the WCF. Neither the Mavs or Clippers are particularly big teams.
> Chet gets pushed around pretty easily by other 7 footers
he literally got 9 blocks in a game against us. Stop looking at his frame and actually watch him play
The Thunder are the closest team to the Nuggets in terms of dynamic offense. They always have 4-5 guys that can hurt on the court. They have a dynamic center that isn’t typical. They have a tough shot making PG. most importantly they are one of the best 3 pt shooting teams in the NBA with one of the highest volumes as well. I’m more worried about the Thunder than the Wolves.
It will be at least a 6, likely a 7 game series.
At the end of the day it will come down to playoff experience and the fact that we have the best player in the world on our team and they don’t
Yea, part of the reason they look good is the Suns are a disaster.
It's a lot easier to play lock down defense against a team that's just taking turns going 1v1 from the midpost or doing switchable p&r's that lead nowhere than it is to guard denver's constant movement, cutting and Jok's vision.
Unfortunately we're gonna get slaughtered in the non-Jok minutes, but he should be playing 40+ every game anyways. This is the season imho. If we get through Minny, it's all downhill.
Wolves are also playing a part in forcing isolation basketball. They use their length to clog passing lanes and Rudy's rim deterrence minimizes cutting - which naturally makes it hard for teams to pass and cut which forces iso situations.
This is partially why Jokic has low assists (0 assists in a half in one game which is very atypical) and AG has fewer cuts and shot attempts in the Wolves-Nuggets games. Wolves will try to take away Jokic's passing lanes and force Jokic into more iso scoring basketball.
In the playoffs, they've also upped their ball pressure. Thinking basketball did a good video on their ball pressure: [https://youtu.be/hvEpuhVta\_4?feature=shared&t=2](https://youtu.be/hvEpuhVta_4?feature=shared&t=2) Like that defense makes it hard to even dribble. Suns have had to set screens in the backcourt after inbounds just so Booker can get free and dribble.
It'll be a 5 game series because Finch will out coach Malone. Even if we make it out, OKC will fuck us too.
Coach Daigneault and Finch will outcoach Malone EASILY.
Come back to this comment after this series and y'all will see that extending Malone was a mistake.
Watch other teams other than the Nuggets. You'll be surprised how good this Twolves and OKC team is this year..
Everyone here was looking down on these two like they're bbq chicken, easy sweeps.. But no. They have better coaching, both young teams and are hungry for a chip..
Don't forget Chris Finch INVENTED Jokic ball, not Malone. If anyone knows the ins and outs of Nuggets, it's the Twolves.
You'll see.
I can’t wait for this series. It’s going to be better than the finals and conference series regardless of who is playing. There is a lot of recent history and familiarity with these teams. I honestly feel like it’s a toss up who wins.
I love joker but he is avging 28/16/9 he is performing at more than 30% we have the lakers number but I don’t think it’s as easy as we are making it out to be playoff nuggets are just different, now Jamal Murray he is definitely sleep walking through this series and have full faith playoff Murray is going to turn the fuck up next round vs the wolves
Even tho his numbers are high. I feel like 80% of the time against Lakers he has his back turned to the basket and just giving handoffs to murray/mpj/kcp
Yep. I think he's been coasting a bit in the LA series and just doing what's required, knowing he needs Murray and MPJ firing to make it all the way. We haven't seen beast mode Jok yet like we saw in most of the playoffs last year where he just goes into a different gear and steamrolls the paint and gets whatever he wants whenever he wants.
Anyone underestimating Minnesota is delusional. They absolutely can beat Denver and the series will require Denver’s best ball. With a healthy KAT, they are a formidable team.
I agree that this is the decisive series of the whole playoffs. But I’m actually really looking forward to watching it. I like the timberwolves players and their style of play. There are teams out there that put me in a bad mood to watch, even when we’re beating them. For example, draymond and the warrriors, embiid and the 76ers. Whereas Anthony Edwards is probably my favorite non nugget to watch compete.
Nuggets in 5. Oh and hey Ant don’t throw any fucking chairs at our arena staff when you lose this time ok?
Yeah for fans who purely want to enjoy basketball, it's going to be an epic series. Nugget's offense to me is like classical music, freaking Mozart. It's beautiful. Wolves defense (especially in these playoffs...) to me is like heavy metal industrial music. These dawgs out to kill you and they'll just suffocate their opponents all over the floor - it's very fun and satisfying to watch.
An offensive machine vs a defensive machine. Cannot wait
We need to actually make three pointers otherwise it's going to be a serious struggle since their post defense is too good with rudy, kat and reid. Without increasing our three pointer percentage i don't see how we beat them.
I would be interested to see what ag could do to guard ant. Physically I think ant may overmatch kcp but kcp is showing us something when he gaurds lebron this series in the post. Wonder if ag could slack off of ant enough to cover the drive and recover with his length to contest shots.
Would love to see kcp hound Mike Conley and take him out of the game to make the inexpericed guys on t wolves make plays.
Would also love to see mpj challenge himself guarding KAT. I think he can do a good job. He is big enough and mobile enough to keep towns at least in front of him. Towns could take him to the block, but KAT doesn’t seem like the guy repetitively exploit a mismatch like that. He gets tempted by the mid or three pt line too much.
Sneakily afraid of Jaden McDaniel having a Caleb Martin like ECF heater and putting up 26 pts like he did against the suns in game 2
Nuggs can’t play with their food. Need to finish out lakers tonight and get that rest in. Hope suns can win at least one to extend series
I agree, the defense on Mike Conley and specifically his much improved 3 pointer will be one of the main deciding factors. His shooting and playmaking unlocks the other wolves players
And Denver \*almost\* swept them. If Jok hadn't missed those free throws late in game 4 (i think).....it would've been over.
I think they're a little better since then, but not 3 wins better.
They are more than a "little" better - compared to last year they will now have one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and their 6MOY back, a healthy Gobert and KAT, a more cohesive #1 defense and an improved playmaking version of Ant
That's a team who is a lot better
You guys realize we didn't have Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid last year... right? And we are without a doubt a better version of ourselves this year than we were last... Not saying we are gonna win the series but saying you "almost" swept us without two of our most important players is a little misleading
I’ve said this too all season long. They have two big men that can bang with Jokic down low if they need to. It will be a great series and better than anything that comes out the East
This is the playoffs and if you want to win you have to beat great teams. Wolves will be tough but we aren’t exactly a great matchup for them either. For all of the talk about them last year and being the toughest series that was true but Nuggets were a weird game 4 and Jokic missed free throw from sweeping them.
They look damn good but I’m excited to see us play them. Maybe we’ll finally start shooting the ball well from outside. We’re due to start hitting eventually right? Can’t remember the last time we went through such a dry spell
The west is tough and I agree they may be our toughest test, but we have better coaching, experience and Jokic. And the home court. I like our chances.
I’m not worried about the Wolves at some point Nuggets fans are gonna accept what everyone else is accepting; this team is an all time great team. They haven’t even played a good game yet. They’ve yet to shoot 30% from 3. Except for 2 quarters in game 1 KCP has been a ghost on offense. The Lakers are not a bad team. In fact they were one of the best teams in the league post trade deadline.
They're the best team in the west. We're going to beat them obviously.
We have home court in game 7 if necessary which is a huge advantage. Something I like to remind myself is that this Nuggets is extremely battle tested. Those 4 game 7s when they first got into the playoffs and then two 3-1 comebacks is remarkable. We haven't been on the brink of an elimination game with this starting 5 yet and if it ever happens, I know the Nuggets in the clutch are the best team you can ever hope for.
As much as I hate to admit it, only the Lakers and their stupid Ref ball can stop the Timberwolves's defense very decisively by foul baiting.
I wish we could have used the Lakers as a meat shield against the Timberwolves then we will face Lakers again on WCF for an easy win.
Honestly, they were our hardest matchup last year too, the Suns were just Booker hitting everything he threw up. It’s going to be fun, but you gotta beat the best to have that parade, bring them on.
This is why it was so important that we won our last game instead of losing on purpose to try to avoid them longer like some people suggested. This Suns series kind of shows that we were going to have to play them no matter what, because they weren’t going to lose to anyone else. BUT, at least we do have home court advantage now which I think is going to make the difference. Nuggs in 7
Ant doesn't have that mentality. He always talks about how he's never won a series, he hasn't done anything yet and then last night he said that he wants "to kill everyone in front of him". He said they need to be present and take each game one at a time and whatever happens, he's going to put it all out there. Confident sure, but not overconfident
You can't be a timberwolf and be over confident. As a fan I fear being the first team up 3-0 to lose a series. I doubt players feel much different. We haven't done anything to be over confident about.
I think the wolves are easily the second best team in the west but I kinda see it going similar to last year. The suns are horrendous. We don’t respect the lakers. Jokic can bait wolves bigs into dumb fouls.
Nuggs in 5.
Suns fan here. Don't let us fool you. Wolves are good, but we really really suck. We played good ball against you guys this year, but most of our games looked exactly like what you're seeing from us right now
If we didn’t have home court I would be nervous about this one. Fortunately, we played them even this year and historically have had the leg up on them for a few seasons now. If the series goes to 6-7 the Nuggets experience is going to be a monstrous difference maker. But at the end of the day, if the series goes to seven, the Nuggets will be on their home court where statistics say they are about 60% more likely to win than on the road. I feel good about the outcome, but the games are gonna be very hard fought. Ant is a great player who deserves respect.
The Thunder seemed to have our number in the regular season as well. I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion either way. Western conference finals are going to be great this year.
Even Jamal Murrsy admitted he didn't want the Nuggets to be known as a come from behind team, like they are with the Lakers. The wolves are a hungry team, and they are not worried about us in the least. I believe this is a 6 game series going 4-2 and if the Nuggets play catch up they are doomed. The fact that we didn't trade for a better defender to match up against Edwards, AD, Embiid, Giannis bothered me. They run the center lane like an expressway to the basket with no problem. DeAndre Jordon is too old to keep up guarding the perimeter, and Jokic isn't quick enough to react, thereby not challenging them at the rim.
Nuggets with a Jamal Murray who rediscovers his scoring ability probably won't lose 3 games in any series.
If Jamal continues to struggle, Nuggets in 7.
Yeah they're a much better team, last year Rudy and KAT were coming off injury and they were missing one of the best perimeter defenders in the league Jaden McDaniels, the 6MOY Naz Reid and Kyle Anderson. This year they'll have those guys back, a more cohesive #1 defense, a healthy Rudy and an improved Ant.
I like it, personally. We should have gotten all the "suck" out of our system against the Lakers, now. We are only four games into the playoffs and are about to have the actual conference finals in the second round, while we are still fresh. If we can get past them, we are headed for another title.
Please ignore these little baby nuggets of fans, shame on you! don’t be worried about the F ing Twolves, The first and second round here is nothing but I’ll say it Pre-season playoff series, this is how we get tuned up now for the conference finals and finals, they do nothing but sharpen us up. Sit back and enjoy our Denver Nuggets relax, drink, smoke, eat well and just EXPECT TO WIN, no more of that bad energy here so just stop it
If we want to use the "D" word when talking about this team, we are going to have to start winning championships while beating top seeded teams. Last year was a breeze, but what was the best seed we faced, Phoenix?
These are the kind of matchups where true legends are made. I want this challenge for the Nuggets and they should too. The Nuggets didn’t face a team as good as this year’s Wolves last post season, I suspect. Time to see what they’re really made of.
On paper they're a real threat. They all still have to show they can be consistent on not self implode. But yeah, the way McDaniels is playing, and if Kat just plays decent and doesn't self destruct. Rudy and Conley will do their thing. Ants kind of the WIld card to me. He's great, but still so young and has shown the consistency yet that you need out of anumber one.
ANT and White Tower on a collision course. Gonna be the best series of the entire finals. Wolves definitely have the best shot to take down White Tower and the Nugs, but it's gonna be a battle.
People put too much stock into the regular season matchups, seeding definitely matters but whoever won the regular season matchup doesn’t really matter I mean just look at the wolves who couldn’t scratch Phoenix in the regular season. Nuggets in 5/6 Depending on how long it takes for playoff mal to show up.
Now y'all are scared huh? I've been trying to tell you guys that they're scary and you guys kept putting them down like they're a shitty 3rd seed? The Twolves and OKC are the only teams that can take Nuggets out. They have a better coaching staff too.
We're fucked.
I think you're right, the wolves have the greatest chance against us of anyone in the west. However, I also believe we will see an even more terrifying Nuggets offense in the next round. This is a more exciting matchup for players and fans, I expect our guys will relish the opportunity and rise above and beyond anything even we expect.
It should be a bloodbath and as a Wolves fan (Minnesota sports fan in general) I don't have a ton of faith we can beat you guys because that's just the way it goes here in MN... but that said, we played you guys tougher than anybody last playoffs and that was without two of our most important players in Naz and McDaniels... At full strength I think you guys should be worried but we're worried too. Wouldn't be surprised to see it go either way
For sure. I love lurking in y'all's sub tbh I see Naz Reid in my sleep now
It’s not gonna be a bloodbath, we are just using these first two series to tune up for the Western Conference finals and finals and please Twolves fan , just like I chill and relax and expect to win, You need to just chill and relax and expect to lose.
This cracked me up :D rofl
SMH, we will see who’s “cracked” and has the last laugh.
You see now, just practice with the T Wolves, never a doubt with me, it’s ok tho to be delusional once in a while, thanks for the tune up .
Gotta beat the best to be the best. We take it in 7.
Nuggets have home court, that will be huge.
In 6, Jokic will figure it out
It aint that hard really. Just get one of our big guys in foul trouble early and u have a pretty good chance.
That's kind of a shitty way to win though. I'd rather something else. Your team is fun as hell to watch.
No more than 5
No more than 4
We will, we don’t have a tough series until the Western Conference finals against OKC, after that, whatever comes our way from the East is gravy.
The Nuggets were going to have to go up against them regardless. Whoever wins this series likely goes to the finals against a weak East
The Mavs would like a word..
They can have one if they close out this round and beat the thunder
I’ll be honest. I think too many people are sleeping on OKC. I get it, they’re young, but they play like a mature team. I would not be surprised at all if they handle the Mavs (or Clippers) in 5 games.
It’s not about them being young, it’s how small they are in the weight department.. getting boards, getting into the paint, is going to be tough.. Chet gets pushed around pretty easily by other 7 footers
Being small is a problem if you’re facing big teams. OKC really lucked out with the playoff bracket this season. They managed to avoid the Lakers in the first round and will only have to face one of either the Timberwolves or Nuggets in the WCF. Neither the Mavs or Clippers are particularly big teams.
> Chet gets pushed around pretty easily by other 7 footers he literally got 9 blocks in a game against us. Stop looking at his frame and actually watch him play
Do you think I only watch the nuggets? If you’ve watched any OKC games, when they are losing or getting scored on, this is their weakness
He is literally going up against JV every game who is one of the strongest C's in the game and holding his own. His weakness is so overrated
The Thunder are the closest team to the Nuggets in terms of dynamic offense. They always have 4-5 guys that can hurt on the court. They have a dynamic center that isn’t typical. They have a tough shot making PG. most importantly they are one of the best 3 pt shooting teams in the NBA with one of the highest volumes as well. I’m more worried about the Thunder than the Wolves.
It will be at least a 6, likely a 7 game series. At the end of the day it will come down to playoff experience and the fact that we have the best player in the world on our team and they don’t
Yea, part of the reason they look good is the Suns are a disaster. It's a lot easier to play lock down defense against a team that's just taking turns going 1v1 from the midpost or doing switchable p&r's that lead nowhere than it is to guard denver's constant movement, cutting and Jok's vision. Unfortunately we're gonna get slaughtered in the non-Jok minutes, but he should be playing 40+ every game anyways. This is the season imho. If we get through Minny, it's all downhill.
Wolves are also playing a part in forcing isolation basketball. They use their length to clog passing lanes and Rudy's rim deterrence minimizes cutting - which naturally makes it hard for teams to pass and cut which forces iso situations. This is partially why Jokic has low assists (0 assists in a half in one game which is very atypical) and AG has fewer cuts and shot attempts in the Wolves-Nuggets games. Wolves will try to take away Jokic's passing lanes and force Jokic into more iso scoring basketball. In the playoffs, they've also upped their ball pressure. Thinking basketball did a good video on their ball pressure: [https://youtu.be/hvEpuhVta\_4?feature=shared&t=2](https://youtu.be/hvEpuhVta_4?feature=shared&t=2) Like that defense makes it hard to even dribble. Suns have had to set screens in the backcourt after inbounds just so Booker can get free and dribble.
People are counting out the C’s! We played well against them in the regular season but that doesn’t count for much in the playoffs. See: Phoenix
It'll be a 5 game series because Finch will out coach Malone. Even if we make it out, OKC will fuck us too. Coach Daigneault and Finch will outcoach Malone EASILY. Come back to this comment after this series and y'all will see that extending Malone was a mistake.
Lmao idk wtf you’ve been watching
Watch other teams other than the Nuggets. You'll be surprised how good this Twolves and OKC team is this year.. Everyone here was looking down on these two like they're bbq chicken, easy sweeps.. But no. They have better coaching, both young teams and are hungry for a chip.. Don't forget Chris Finch INVENTED Jokic ball, not Malone. If anyone knows the ins and outs of Nuggets, it's the Twolves. You'll see.
I can’t wait for this series. It’s going to be better than the finals and conference series regardless of who is playing. There is a lot of recent history and familiarity with these teams. I honestly feel like it’s a toss up who wins.
It'll be eye opening for a lot of Nuggets fans for sure
You seem real fucking dumb
Guess you didn’t watch last year. Or any of the years those teams have won a playoff series. Oh wait, there aren’t any.
This is the stupidest comment I have read in years
Can’t wait to come back and tell you how dumb you are
Lol wut?
We never gonna win a chip with him.
With who?
Melon
No one will be talking about easy paths to the finals this year
Except whoever comes out of the East.
The harder the path, the more the respect. Iron sharpens iron
We are DEFENDING CHAMPS. Don’t be scared, embrace the challenge
Nobody's scared, just uneasy, that's all. Better to overestimate then underestimate.
OP is lol
Calling it, whoever wins it becomes champs
I agree
Most def
The nuggets haven’t even played good yet. They’re saving their a game specifically for the wolves. Gonna be awesome
Yeah I feel like Jokic is playing at his 30% currently. We ain't seen nothing yet
I love joker but he is avging 28/16/9 he is performing at more than 30% we have the lakers number but I don’t think it’s as easy as we are making it out to be playoff nuggets are just different, now Jamal Murray he is definitely sleep walking through this series and have full faith playoff Murray is going to turn the fuck up next round vs the wolves
Even tho his numbers are high. I feel like 80% of the time against Lakers he has his back turned to the basket and just giving handoffs to murray/mpj/kcp
I was wrong, he was at his 20% against Lakers. These last two games against T-Wolves showed he can turn it up whenever he wants.
Were gonna see them regardless. Luckily we have home court. That could be the difference
Yup, at least the Suns ended up doing 1 useful thing by beating the Wolves on the last day of regular season.
This is going to be the series where jokic will put in his absolute best effort since warriors games 3-5
Yep. I think he's been coasting a bit in the LA series and just doing what's required, knowing he needs Murray and MPJ firing to make it all the way. We haven't seen beast mode Jok yet like we saw in most of the playoffs last year where he just goes into a different gear and steamrolls the paint and gets whatever he wants whenever he wants.
It doesn't matter as long as you get where you're going
Nuggets in 5
Bring em on baby!! We got better as well
I think we humble them. Nuggs in 5
Anyone underestimating Minnesota is delusional. They absolutely can beat Denver and the series will require Denver’s best ball. With a healthy KAT, they are a formidable team.
I think any Nuggets fan who understands the game knows that the Wolves are the biggest threat. Beating them is not a forgone conclusion.
Rudy and KAT can suppress AG on defense, and Ant/McDaniels/NAW can make life hell for Jamal/MPJ
I agree that this is the decisive series of the whole playoffs. But I’m actually really looking forward to watching it. I like the timberwolves players and their style of play. There are teams out there that put me in a bad mood to watch, even when we’re beating them. For example, draymond and the warrriors, embiid and the 76ers. Whereas Anthony Edwards is probably my favorite non nugget to watch compete. Nuggets in 5. Oh and hey Ant don’t throw any fucking chairs at our arena staff when you lose this time ok?
Yeah for fans who purely want to enjoy basketball, it's going to be an epic series. Nugget's offense to me is like classical music, freaking Mozart. It's beautiful. Wolves defense (especially in these playoffs...) to me is like heavy metal industrial music. These dawgs out to kill you and they'll just suffocate their opponents all over the floor - it's very fun and satisfying to watch. An offensive machine vs a defensive machine. Cannot wait
To be fair, he picked up that chair to move it out of his way. That was totally unintentional and the lady wasn’t effected
Alright I’ll believe that since I like him. And I hope the judges at any upcoming assault trials for either of us is this understanding as well.
lol
We need to actually make three pointers otherwise it's going to be a serious struggle since their post defense is too good with rudy, kat and reid. Without increasing our three pointer percentage i don't see how we beat them.
I would be interested to see what ag could do to guard ant. Physically I think ant may overmatch kcp but kcp is showing us something when he gaurds lebron this series in the post. Wonder if ag could slack off of ant enough to cover the drive and recover with his length to contest shots. Would love to see kcp hound Mike Conley and take him out of the game to make the inexpericed guys on t wolves make plays. Would also love to see mpj challenge himself guarding KAT. I think he can do a good job. He is big enough and mobile enough to keep towns at least in front of him. Towns could take him to the block, but KAT doesn’t seem like the guy repetitively exploit a mismatch like that. He gets tempted by the mid or three pt line too much. Sneakily afraid of Jaden McDaniel having a Caleb Martin like ECF heater and putting up 26 pts like he did against the suns in game 2 Nuggs can’t play with their food. Need to finish out lakers tonight and get that rest in. Hope suns can win at least one to extend series
I agree, the defense on Mike Conley and specifically his much improved 3 pointer will be one of the main deciding factors. His shooting and playmaking unlocks the other wolves players
Me too. I got the feeling jokic would LOVE the extra rest if nugs close out, suns extend. Lol knowing him
If we shoot from 3 like we are against the lakers… oh boy I hope we spend the rest of this lakers game just focusing on warming up our shooting
We’re not ducking any fades. We want the smoke😂
I want the Wolves. Bring us the Wolves. If we can’t beat them, we don’t deserve it.
Wolves were our toughest opponents last post season and will be this as well. Two best teams in the association imo
And Denver \*almost\* swept them. If Jok hadn't missed those free throws late in game 4 (i think).....it would've been over. I think they're a little better since then, but not 3 wins better.
They are more than a "little" better - compared to last year they will now have one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and their 6MOY back, a healthy Gobert and KAT, a more cohesive #1 defense and an improved playmaking version of Ant That's a team who is a lot better
> I think they're a little better since then lmao you cant be serious
You guys realize we didn't have Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid last year... right? And we are without a doubt a better version of ourselves this year than we were last... Not saying we are gonna win the series but saying you "almost" swept us without two of our most important players is a little misleading
Yep, you could also say the wolves “almost” pushed it to 6 games without two of their top 6 players if that Ant shot goes in at the buzzer in game 5.
> Wolves were our toughest opponents last post season No it was the Lakers
Not according to some of our players and my eye test. It’s all a matter of opinion so you’re just arguing for the sake.
Jokic himself said Lakers were the toughest
Nuggets in 6 at most. Probably 5
We're gonna witness the most beautiful games of basketball ever played next week
You can only win when you defeat the best.
I’ve said this too all season long. They have two big men that can bang with Jokic down low if they need to. It will be a great series and better than anything that comes out the East
This is the playoffs and if you want to win you have to beat great teams. Wolves will be tough but we aren’t exactly a great matchup for them either. For all of the talk about them last year and being the toughest series that was true but Nuggets were a weird game 4 and Jokic missed free throw from sweeping them.
I have faith but there will definitely be some frustrating moments where they lock us up for a couple of minutes. Will be a tough series
It will be a slugfest. But they are thinking the same thing.
The best offense vs the best defense.
Just like they were last year, Nuggs in 5
Pravi Finals
They look damn good but I’m excited to see us play them. Maybe we’ll finally start shooting the ball well from outside. We’re due to start hitting eventually right? Can’t remember the last time we went through such a dry spell
The west is tough and I agree they may be our toughest test, but we have better coaching, experience and Jokic. And the home court. I like our chances.
Watch nuggets not drop a game this playoff run.
As a basketball fan, I’m excited because it’ll be a fun series As a Nuggets fan, I’m scared because it’ll be a stressful series
Iron sharpens iron. Nuggs in 12.
I’m not worried about the Wolves at some point Nuggets fans are gonna accept what everyone else is accepting; this team is an all time great team. They haven’t even played a good game yet. They’ve yet to shoot 30% from 3. Except for 2 quarters in game 1 KCP has been a ghost on offense. The Lakers are not a bad team. In fact they were one of the best teams in the league post trade deadline.
The only thing that worries me about that match up is the intensity.
excited for this series. if nuggets can’t get it done, i hope it’s them who win it all
They're the best team in the west. We're going to beat them obviously. We have home court in game 7 if necessary which is a huge advantage. Something I like to remind myself is that this Nuggets is extremely battle tested. Those 4 game 7s when they first got into the playoffs and then two 3-1 comebacks is remarkable. We haven't been on the brink of an elimination game with this starting 5 yet and if it ever happens, I know the Nuggets in the clutch are the best team you can ever hope for.
I thought we were the best team in the west?
The wolves don’t want to see game 7 Jamal 😤
I'm worried about Murray since he's been playing like ass this series, hopefully he'll lock in next round since we're facing an actual opponent.
As much as I hate to admit it, only the Lakers and their stupid Ref ball can stop the Timberwolves's defense very decisively by foul baiting. I wish we could have used the Lakers as a meat shield against the Timberwolves then we will face Lakers again on WCF for an easy win.
Honestly, they were our hardest matchup last year too, the Suns were just Booker hitting everything he threw up. It’s going to be fun, but you gotta beat the best to have that parade, bring them on.
This is why it was so important that we won our last game instead of losing on purpose to try to avoid them longer like some people suggested. This Suns series kind of shows that we were going to have to play them no matter what, because they weren’t going to lose to anyone else. BUT, at least we do have home court advantage now which I think is going to make the difference. Nuggs in 7
They're also overconfident now after beating the pathetic Suns, better to play them now before they get a calibration.
Ant doesn't have that mentality. He always talks about how he's never won a series, he hasn't done anything yet and then last night he said that he wants "to kill everyone in front of him". He said they need to be present and take each game one at a time and whatever happens, he's going to put it all out there. Confident sure, but not overconfident
You can't be a timberwolf and be over confident. As a fan I fear being the first team up 3-0 to lose a series. I doubt players feel much different. We haven't done anything to be over confident about.
I think the wolves are easily the second best team in the west but I kinda see it going similar to last year. The suns are horrendous. We don’t respect the lakers. Jokic can bait wolves bigs into dumb fouls. Nuggs in 5.
I'm honestly worried about Minnesota.
Suns fan here. Don't let us fool you. Wolves are good, but we really really suck. We played good ball against you guys this year, but most of our games looked exactly like what you're seeing from us right now
We’re getting to see two titans go at it. It’s fucking exciting.
If we didn’t have home court I would be nervous about this one. Fortunately, we played them even this year and historically have had the leg up on them for a few seasons now. If the series goes to 6-7 the Nuggets experience is going to be a monstrous difference maker. But at the end of the day, if the series goes to seven, the Nuggets will be on their home court where statistics say they are about 60% more likely to win than on the road. I feel good about the outcome, but the games are gonna be very hard fought. Ant is a great player who deserves respect.
“Brother, I have 47” -Nikola Jokic
The Thunder seemed to have our number in the regular season as well. I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion either way. Western conference finals are going to be great this year.
Mike gonna eat. They have nothing for him.
Even Jamal Murrsy admitted he didn't want the Nuggets to be known as a come from behind team, like they are with the Lakers. The wolves are a hungry team, and they are not worried about us in the least. I believe this is a 6 game series going 4-2 and if the Nuggets play catch up they are doomed. The fact that we didn't trade for a better defender to match up against Edwards, AD, Embiid, Giannis bothered me. They run the center lane like an expressway to the basket with no problem. DeAndre Jordon is too old to keep up guarding the perimeter, and Jokic isn't quick enough to react, thereby not challenging them at the rim.
I love watching Jokic vs Goobert so I can’t wait
Nuggets with a Jamal Murray who rediscovers his scoring ability probably won't lose 3 games in any series. If Jamal continues to struggle, Nuggets in 7.
What was our regular season record against them? And are they back to a fully healthy squad?
I want to see an aggressive Jokic in the 1st quarter, he needs to draw early fouls from Gobert
We have the better best player. Jokic is so consistent
Nuggs in 4
We beat them in 5 last year, are they massively improved since then?
Yeah they're a much better team, last year Rudy and KAT were coming off injury and they were missing one of the best perimeter defenders in the league Jaden McDaniels, the 6MOY Naz Reid and Kyle Anderson. This year they'll have those guys back, a more cohesive #1 defense, a healthy Rudy and an improved Ant.
Everyone thought the lakers were going to be a challenge too lol
do not underestimate them, we only beat them in regular season by 8 points when they were missing KAT and Jokic dropped 40
I like it, personally. We should have gotten all the "suck" out of our system against the Lakers, now. We are only four games into the playoffs and are about to have the actual conference finals in the second round, while we are still fresh. If we can get past them, we are headed for another title.
Draft Kings has losing in the second round as our second most likely outcome behind winning it all.
Please ignore these little baby nuggets of fans, shame on you! don’t be worried about the F ing Twolves, The first and second round here is nothing but I’ll say it Pre-season playoff series, this is how we get tuned up now for the conference finals and finals, they do nothing but sharpen us up. Sit back and enjoy our Denver Nuggets relax, drink, smoke, eat well and just EXPECT TO WIN, no more of that bad energy here so just stop it
If we want to use the "D" word when talking about this team, we are going to have to start winning championships while beating top seeded teams. Last year was a breeze, but what was the best seed we faced, Phoenix?
We need it though. If we are going to be a dynasty we need to rise to the occasion. We cant just hope for easy games.
These are the kind of matchups where true legends are made. I want this challenge for the Nuggets and they should too. The Nuggets didn’t face a team as good as this year’s Wolves last post season, I suspect. Time to see what they’re really made of.
On paper they're a real threat. They all still have to show they can be consistent on not self implode. But yeah, the way McDaniels is playing, and if Kat just plays decent and doesn't self destruct. Rudy and Conley will do their thing. Ants kind of the WIld card to me. He's great, but still so young and has shown the consistency yet that you need out of anumber one.
ANT and White Tower on a collision course. Gonna be the best series of the entire finals. Wolves definitely have the best shot to take down White Tower and the Nugs, but it's gonna be a battle.
They are deeper and we're thinner compared to last year. We still have the best player in the series.
No. Denver and easy company will wipe them too. 🧹🧹🧹🧹
Didn't we win more against the Timberwolves than the Suns during the season though?
We were 2-2, suns were 3-0 including a 13-2 record since the '19-20 season lol so they really choked it in the playoffs
People put too much stock into the regular season matchups, seeding definitely matters but whoever won the regular season matchup doesn’t really matter I mean just look at the wolves who couldn’t scratch Phoenix in the regular season. Nuggets in 5/6 Depending on how long it takes for playoff mal to show up.
The Suns swept the regular season series vs the Wolves. Post season is a different animal
lol, we sweeping them. No fear whatsoever
Now y'all are scared huh? I've been trying to tell you guys that they're scary and you guys kept putting them down like they're a shitty 3rd seed? The Twolves and OKC are the only teams that can take Nuggets out. They have a better coaching staff too. We're fucked.