2026 First Round Playoffs Thread: Minnesota vs Denver

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Per STrib:

Here are three things to know about this year’s Nuggets:

It’s still Nikola Jokic’s and Jamal Murray’s world

Center Nikola Jokic and point guard Jamal Murray have been teammates for a decade now, and save for 2021-22 when Murray was injured, the two have ranked 1-2 in Denver scoring every year since the 2018-19 season. Jokic missed a month this season because of a hyperextended knee and had to play in the season finale to reach the minimum 65-game threshold for NBA awards eligibility. But the three-time NBA MVP remains as dangerous as ever. This season, he averaged a triple-double at 27.8 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game, becoming the first player in NBA history to lead the league in both rebounds and assists per game in a single season. As for Murray, the 29-year-old finally was named an All-Star for the first time and averaged 25.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists — all career highs.

A lot of players have been hurt at one point or another

The Nuggets have seven players averaging at least 10 points per game, but of those, only Jokic, Murray and reserve Tim Hardaway Jr. played at least 65 games. Aaron Gordon played in only 36 games because of hamstring issues but is expected to be ready for the playoffs. Christian Braun missed nearly half the season because of a sprained ankle. Cameron Johnson has had an effective first season in Denver after getting traded last summer from Brooklyn for Michael Porter Jr., but he has played in only 54 games. Given a chance to play, fourth-year guard Peyton Watson has averaged 14.6 points pre game, but he has battled a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for all but five games since early February. Like the Wolves’ Donte DiVincenzo, Denver’s Bruce Brown managed to play all 82 games this season.

Nuggets are surging at season’s end

On the morning of March 10, the Wolves at in third in the West with a 40-24 record, while the Nuggets were in sixth at 39-26, as close to the No. 3 spot as they were to the play-in tournament at No. 7. From there, though, the teams went in opposite directions. Denver won 15 of its final 17 games, including three victories over West No. 2 seed San Antonio, a potential second-round opponent. Over that same stretch, the Wolves went 9-9 and seemed to settle into landing at the No. 6 seed. The Nuggets’ finish greatly contrasts to a season ago, when after losing 13 of 23 games they fired longtime coach Michael Malone with three games left in the regular season, replacing him with former Wolves assistant David Adelman.


Howl Wolves!!
 


tikited said:
Nuggets in 5. I don't like our team. Hope I'm wrong.
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Ant isn't explosive right now. He's needs to be at 100% to win.
Only thing that might have us Peyton Watson might not play.

Besides ant being hurt, Finch will.give too many minutes to Conley and slo mo
 



G1 will be on Amazon Prime Video only.

Bummer.
 








BleedGopher said:

Howl Wolves!!
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Kendrick Perkins, who to the best of my knowledge is still employed by ESPN, picked the Wolves on Pardon the Interruption.

This was aired on ESPN.

Sorry to spoil the bulletin board material.
 

Ope3 said:
Kendrick Perkins, who to the best of my knowledge is still employed by ESPN, picked the Wolves on Pardon the Interruption.

This was aired on ESPN.

Sorry to spoil the bulletin board material.
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OK. 12 to 1
 





fan of Ray Williams said:
Do they now turn it on? Remember “they’re bored” during the regular season?
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They will try. But if nuggets punch back it will get ugly. Im not a fan of Randles demeanor and think it has a really big negative impact on the team, especially Ant.
 




JimmyJamesMD said:
At least we will get Kevin Harlan in the first half
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Only if you pay for Amazon Prime's "Live Announcer" plus up, at a cost of only $9.95 per game. Otherwise, in Amazon's efforts to help you, the viewer, reduce your costs, you'll get the AI-generated voice of Homer Simpson calling the plays.

Oh, and if you want multiple camera views of the games instead of watching the whole thing on a single camera, you can pay a bit more for Amazon's multi-view option.

 


Chris Webber says Jokic is the best player in the NBA (I agree) but Wolves are a bad match-up for Nuggets:

 


Full Speed Ahead said:
Only if you pay for Amazon Prime's "Live Announcer" plus up, at a cost of only $9.95 per game. Otherwise, in Amazon's efforts to help you, the viewer, reduce your costs, you'll get the AI-generated voice of Homer Simpson calling the plays.

Oh, and if you want multiple camera views of the games instead of watching the whole thing on a single camera, you can pay a bit more for Amazon's multi-view option.

Click to expand...
You forgot about having to go to 7/11 to get your 3D Glasses for replays.
 




The officials in this game are god awful right now. 1 sided for Denver.
 



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