Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction: The Nuggets will be favorites

The NBA Playoffs are here and we are just into the First Round. The NBA Postseason began when the NBA Play-in tournament kicked off. During the Play-in tournament, the seventh seeded and eight seeded teams qualified for the first round. The eight-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves are going to take on the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets finished at the top of the Western Conference, winning 53 and losing 29 games. The team began the season with 33 wins and 13 losses, but in the second half of the season, they won 20 and lost 16 games, which means the finish wasn’t at the electric rate. Offensively, the Nuggets have a lot of firepower, being led by Nikola Jokic who once again put in big-time stats. Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr form an athletic Forward duo whereas Jamal Murray can stack up points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a dependable two-way player. Bruce Brown has been a great presence off-the-bench whereas Reggie Jackson brings heavy Playoffs experience. Will Nuggets live up to their billing?

The Timberwolves bounced back from the seventh seeded loss and trounced the Thunder 120:95 as Karl Anthony-Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds. The team's defense has been strong thus far and that has helped matters a lot. The offense has a lot of options while the return of Karl Anthony-Towns has bolstered it. Kyle Anderson has given superb minutes as the role player whereas Rudy Gobert had a strong game against the Thunder, and his rebounding, inside defense, and help defense will be crucial in stopping Jokic. Mike Conley has been solid too and brings great two-way experience.

• Nuggets: OUT: Collin Gillespie;
• Timberwolves: OUT: Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels. QUESTIONABLE: Jaylen Nowell, Rudy Gobert.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Nikola Jokic(28-34 Points), Karl Anthony-Towns(24-28 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Nikola Jokic(12-16 Rebounds), Rudy Gobert(10-13 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Nikola Jokic(8-11 Assists), Mike Conley(6-9 Assists).

The Nuggets are amazing when it comes to their offensive balance and their defense can pick up the steam too. Their play during the second half wasn’t at the desired rate, so they have some issues to fix. The Timberwolves are battle-hardened and they have been playing more compared to the Nuggets. However, I expect the Nuggets to turn it around and predict a scoreline of 120:110 in the favor of the Nuggets.