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#2 Seed Denver Nuggets vs. #3 Minnesota Timberwolves
Season series tied 2-2
Tariq’s Outlook and Prediction
This is a fascinating matchup between two teams with real championship aspirations. The Nuggets seem like the most difficult matchup to figure out for every team in the last few years, but if one team out west has the best opportunity, it’s the Wolves. The Wolves were one of the best defenses in the league and are coming off a series where they neutralized and contained Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal. At the same time, the Nuggets proved once again to be steps ahead of the Lakers. The Wolves now must find a way to slow down Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray or at least one of them. With the size of Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jaden McDaniels in the frontcourt, they could be able to frustrate Jokic. Anthony Edwards is the type of player to take the challenge on Murray, while I can see McDaniels stepping up, as well as Nickeil Alexander-Walker off the bench. I noted that the last series was the ONE for Ant, but this one right here, would solidify him at the top of the league. His leadership, passion, determination, and mentality have galvanized this entire team and they believe they have further places to go this postseason. As for Denver, Jokic is the best player in the league and the most difficult player to game-plan for, in my opinion. You pair that with a healthy Jamal Murray, and there hasn’t been an answer for either of the last two seasons. If the game is close, everyone knows what Denver wants to do with the Murray-Jokic two-man game, and yet no one can stop it. Michael Porter Jr and KAT are the two most important players for each side. MPJ has to continue to knock shots down the way he has and play his role to perfection. KAT absolutely can not get into foul trouble, they need his scoring and his size on the defensive end. Another key to this is Denver having home-court advantage.
Nuggets in 7
X-Factors: MPJ and KAT
#2 Seed Denver Nuggets vs. #3 Minnesota Timberwolves
Season series tied 2-2
Bryce’s Outlook and Prediction
Season Series – tied 2-2
The Western Conference semifinals starts with one of the more intense matchups of the playoffs. The reigning champs up against the hungriest of challengers. In their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Denver Nuggets showed us they’re still the team to beat in the West. They looked pretty impressive, picking up where they left off last season. But they run into a Minnesota Timberwolves team that is coming for it all after sweeping the Phoenix Suns in the first round. The pack led by rising superstar Anthony Edwards could be the biggest challenge for the reigning champs as they’re on the quest to repeat. But with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray playing the way they have as of late, the Timberwolves will have their hands full. Looking at each team, they match up pretty well against each other. Both have possible answers for each other. The matchups that’ll be the most intriguing will be Nikola Jokic vs Rudy Gobert and Jamal Murray vs Anthony Edwards. When playing against the Joker, there’s not a lot that you can do with him since he’s either scoring or setting others up to score. In the regular season matchups, he averaged 33.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists. It’ll be interesting to see how the Wolves decide to defend him, being that they have one of the best paint protectors in the league in Gobert. The real dogfight will be between Anthony Edwards and Jamal Murray. Both guards can score at will and have made big plays to get their teams to the next round. Their play in this round will be very crucial to their team’s success. Stars aside, every series comes down to the ones around them. Michael Porter Jr. has been hooping as of late, averaging 22.8 points in the first round. Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid had their moments in the first round as well. It’ll be interesting to see how they perform. Ultimately as hoop fans, we’re in for a treat. I believe that the winner of this series will end up being the team that’ll win the West.
X-Factors: Rudy Gobert, Michael Porter Jr.
Prediction- Timberwolves in 7
An avid sports fan and journalist who’s main focus is the lovely game of basketball. If I’m not covering the game, I’m either playing ball or watching it.
