While the T-wolves appeared to be the more dominant team during their first round series—the Nuggets trailed at halftime of every game against the Lakers despite prevailing in five games—they didn’t escape their series against the Suns unscathed. During the second half of their final game against the Suns, Mike Conley was sent flying into the sidelines, right where his coach was standing, during a freak accident play. The result of the play was, Coach of the Year nominee Chris Finch writhing in pain on the floor for sometime before being helped off the court and back into the T-wolves locker room. It would later be revealed that Coach Finch suffered a ruptured patellar tendon, and would require surgery. While injuries to NBA Head Coaches are certainly an oddity, it certainly can’t help the Wolves chances that Coach Finch’s status for Game 1—and onwards—is murky at best.
Regardless of who you might be rooting for in this matchup, there’s no denying that the star-power that is going to be on display is going to be nothing short of spectacular. On the Nuggets side, they are fortunate enough to have the consensus best player in all of basketball on their team, in Nikola Jokic. Who just put an end to the Lakers season, with one of his more modest (and least efficient) outings in recent memory, and still managed a final stat line of 25 points, 20 rebounds, and 9 assists. The second most important player to the Nuggets success is easily Jamal Murray. Who despite never being selected to an All-Star team, and struggling through an ankle injury throughout the first round, continues his career trend of morphing into an All-NBA level player once the playoffs roll around.
Two out of the Nuggets four first round wins over the Lakers were the result of a Jamal Murray game winner—both over the Lakers’ best defender, Anthony Davis. Lastly for the Nuggets, although not harboring quite as much star power as the aforementioned duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr deserves a mention here for his dynamic and irreplaceable perimeter shooting. Porter Jr was on an absolute heater during the opening series against the Lakers, shooting 48.8% from long range, and draining a total of 20 3-pointers.
For the Minnesota Timberwolves, everything starts and stops with one of the brightest young stars in the NBA, Anthony Edwards. Everyone’s favorite player to compare to MJ and the late great Kobe Bryant, Anthony Ewards continues to show that despite his age (22), he is entirely capable of being the head of the snake for a tier-1 title contender.
After a clean first round sweep of the Phoenix Suns, filled with trash-talking, 30-point performances, and posterizing dunks, there’s no doubt that Edwards is ready to bring that same energy into the Western Conference Semifinals against the defending champs. The second brightest star for the T-wolves, is Karl Anthony-Towns. After being the Wolves first option for the first duration of his career, KAT has smoothly adjusted into a more complimentary, second option role. And so far so good, as KAT thrived during the series against the Suns, averaging an efficient and productive 19.3 ppg, and 9.5 rpg. Lastly, while Rudy Gobert may not offer as much on the offensive end as his other two co-stars, his defensive impact all but makes up for it. In line to potentially be awarded with his fourth(!) Defensive Player of the Year award, Gobert is as responsible as anyone for the Wolves roaring success this year.
Despite Denver’s immense edge in playoff experience, the Timberwolves have arguably looked like the more impressive team so far during these playoffs. And considering that these two teams split their regular season series at two games apiece, it would be a great surprise if this upcoming playoff matchup doesn’t extend to at least 6 games. In a year in which significant injuries have affected so many NBA stars and their respective franchises—Kawhi Leonard, Zion Williamson, Joel Embiid, and Jimmie Butler, just to name a few—we are lucky to get such a highly anticipated matchup were both teams are at near or near full health, (with the slight exception of Coach Finch for the T-wolves of course). Get your popcorn ready, because this is where the NBA Playoffs really start to heat up.
Credit – AP
