NUggets | Plaid Line + PRIZM + Scottie News

By: Sema’Jae Tate

https://www.instagram.com/timberwolves/ #timberwolves

Game 1

Nuggets 116 – Timberwolves 105 (Loss)
Minnesota started the series a little slow. Denver controlled the pace and shot efficiently, pulling away in the second half. The Timberwolves struggled defensively and couldn’t keep up with the scoring late in the game.

My biggest takeaway was that the team chemistry wasn’t good on defense.

Game 2

Timberwolves 119 – Nuggets 114 (Win)
The Timberwolves bounced back with a strong offensive performance. They played faster, moved the ball better, and executed well in the fourth quarter to even the series. This game showed their ability to respond under pressure.

In this game, the Wolves came out to play and learned from the 1st game and stopped them.

Game 3

Timberwolves 113 – Nuggets 96 (Win)
Back at home, Minnesota took control with strong defense and a balanced attack. They held Denver under 100 points and built a comfortable lead, showing dominance on both ends of the floor.

I liked how Gobert was going after Jokic back and forth.

Game 4

Timberwolves 112 – Nuggets 96 (Win)
Minnesota continued their momentum and took a 3–1 series lead. This game was intense, with physical play and even some late-game tension between players. Despite injuries to key players, the Timberwolves had a huge performance off the bench and controlled the game from start to finish.

Ant (Anthony Edwards), the Wolves start player, was injured in this game. But it was OK because the team still played strong and came out with the win.

Overall Series So Far

The Timberwolves currently lead the series 3–1, showing major improvement after losing Game 1. They’ve been winning with defense, depth, and strong scoring runs, especially in the second half of games. Their biggest strengths have been controlling the pace and stepping up in clutch moments, while their early inconsistency in Game 1 is the main weakness they’ve corrected.

By: Karl Salkowski

The NBA playoffs feature a best of 7 format with a home-away game structure of 2-2-1-1-1. The playoffs last several months, beginning on April 18th and, assuming the finals go to a game 7, until June 19th. Similar to American football, the NBA has two conferences, the Western and the Eastern conferences.

On each side of the bracket, the top 6 teams from the regular season automatically earn their spot in the playoffs, but teams ranked 7-10 get the chance to compete for the final two positions. This is called the Play-In Tournament and happens post-regular season but before the beginning of the playoffs. It is a single-elimination style tournament where the 9th and 10th seeds must win 2 games in order to proceed, while the 7th and 8th seeds only need to win 1.

So far, every team in the playoffs has played 3-4 games, with multiple lower seed teams possibly upsetting higher ranked teams. As expected, the top rated team, and defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, are leading their series 3-0, and the 2nd seed in the West, the San Antonio Spurs are winning 3-1 against the 7th seeded Portland Trail Blazers.

However, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 6th seed in the West, are upsetting the 3rd seed, the Denver Nuggets, 3-1 even after 2 of their starters have faced major injuries. On April 25th, the Timberwolves shooting guard, Donte DiVencenzo, tore his Achilles just over a minute into their fourth game against the Nuggets, and just a couple minutes later in the first half of the same game, Anthony Edwards suffered a left knee injury, possibly taking him out for the rest of the season.

To round out the Western Conference, the Lakers are leading 3-1 against the Houston Rockets even without two of their starters, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves.

Moving on to the Eastern Conference, one of the biggest upsets so far is the 8th seeded Orlando Magic leading the first seed in the East, the Detroit Pistons, 2-1. In addition, the 2nd seed Boston Celtics are leading the 76ers 3-1 after a blowout game 4. The rest of the Eastern Conference is tied 2-2 after game 4 with no clear winners in sight.