WCS Game 1: Minnesota at Denver, Saturday

[Dalvin]

Now I get why the team dropped to the number 3 seed for the playoffs.
So they can close out the Nuggets and the Thunder at home in Game 4

[minimus]

This was my plan too… but I’m too excited and can’t sleep well

It’s a Saturday night game. There are no excuses for not staying up, my fellow Europeans man, I don’t miss waking up at 4:30 am to watch the lakers play as a 13-14 year old…

That's fair point but in my defence, I stayed up far too many nights (regardless of the weekdays or weekends) to watch the Wolves lose when I was younger. Nowadays, I am approaching my 40s and sudden changes to my sleeping habits aren't as easily handled as they used to be.

And that's the end of my old man rant

Same here. Being in Europe, being 43 yo family man (four kids). I used to watch almost entire season three years ago because my youngest daughter did not sleep well at night, so I helped my wife with night watch, haha.

But now Wolves are back, so back!

[Showtime:Part2]

Ant is the next MJ/Kobe. He is that guy. We have a generational player on our team. 20 years from now he's going to be in that debate.

Lakers fan here. He’s in that debate now. Rooting for the wolves, watching ant just makes me insanely nostalgic. I also took money on the wolves to win the series before game 1 bc I love rooting for ant lol

[deepestblue]

Wolves fan since 1989, and after this unbelievable performance in game 1 (it literally doesn't feel real after 20 years of the team not winning a single game beyond round 1....after all it "only" took them 15 years from their inception to win a single game beyond round 1), I have a few words to say:

Naz Reid, Naz Reid Naz Reid Naz Reid, Naz Reid....Naz Reid!

[KGdaBom]

Ant is the next MJ/Kobe. He is that guy. We have a generational player on our team. 20 years from now he's going to be in that debate.

Lakers fan here. He’s in that debate now. Rooting for the wolves, watching ant just makes me insanely nostalgic. I also took money on the wolves to win the series before game 1 bc I love rooting for ant lol

Thanks for stopping by.

[Shaka_Zulu]

[Colbinii]

There is a chance we just keep on cruising. Nobody can guard Edwards or Towns in this series. Our defense is just so good and consistent that it takes perfect offense to even generate a good look, let alone making the shot.

[BlacJacMac]

The value of Jaden.

He was totally out of sync offensively. 0 points. Missed at least 2-3 bunnies.

But he pulled down 8 rebounds and only had 1 PF in 39 minutes. +14 for the game.

[shrink]

Watch on YouTube

[Colbinii]

The value of Jaden.

He was totally out of sync offensively. 0 points. Missed at least 2-3 bunnies.

But he pulled down 8 rebounds and only had 1 PF in 39 minutes. +14 for the game.

I have never seen a player his size navigate screens so well.

[shrink]

From canishoopus.

Nikola Jokic averaged fewer assists against the Timberwolves than any other team in the league this season, and it certainly showed. Karl-Anthony Towns deserves a ton of credit for the way he has been able to fight in this match up.

Karl Anthony Towns since the start of last season and the playoffs has held Nikola Jokic to 37.8% shooting. It’s like 46 points on 48 shots, and of any player that has guarded Nikola Jokic as much as he has, that is the lowest field goal percentage by far. The next closest player is Sengun, at 48-49%.

When you’re able to be physical with Jokic, and prevent him from getting to the front of the restricted area, forcing him to play in the midrange area where you can contest shots without fouling, you’re doing things right.

Gobert is an awesome defender, but Jokic is one of the few matchups that favors Towns. Jokic isn’t quick, Towns can stay out of foul trouble (if they aren’t self-inflicted), and he’s still long to make it harder for Jokic to pass. Last night, he had 9 assists but 6 turnovers.

[Loaf_of_bread]

From canishoopus.

Nikola Jokic averaged fewer assists against the Timberwolves than any other team in the league this season, and it certainly showed. Karl-Anthony Towns deserves a ton of credit for the way he has been able to fight in this match up.

Karl Anthony Towns since the start of last season and the playoffs has held Nikola Jokic to 37.8% shooting. It’s like 46 points on 48 shots, and of any player that has guarded Nikola Jokic as much as he has, that is the lowest field goal percentage by far. The next closest player is Sengun, at 48-49%.

When you’re able to be physical with Jokic, and prevent him from getting to the front of the restricted area, forcing him to play in the midrange area where you can contest shots without fouling, you’re doing things right.

Gobert is an awesome defender, but Jokic is one of the few matchups that favors Towns. Jokic isn’t quick, Towns can stay out of foul trouble (if they aren’t self-inflicted), and he’s still long to make it harder for Jokic to pass. Last night, he had 9 assists but 6 turnovers.

Agree. Gobert one on one vs Jokic for whatever reason isn't that effective, but I think it was someone on tnt that made a comment of: Wolves are able to rotate Kat, gobert, and Naz defending him. Thinking this is the way to go... maintain fresh, intense defense on that guy

[Worm Guts]

I thought Naz did a pretty good job when he had to guard Jokic, arguably the best of the three.

[trex_8063]

What a game! I got to watch it today (had recorded it and managed to avoid learning of spoilers).

Through much of the regular season, I must admit to thinking the Wolves were more of a paper tiger than a true contender; but now I'm starting to believe! They absolutely wupped Phoenix in the first round, steal game 1 from the defending champs IN DENVER?!? It seems possible (at least to win the West; idk if anyone can beat Boston).

They are definitely the team I'm rooting for this year, though.

I'm reluctant to say this, since I reprimanded a poster for seemingly baiting with this comment (after a different game)---and I would never say this on the Nuggets forum, where it more or less would be baiting.......but there were a couple moments where I was wondering if the refs were trying to help the Nuggets.

The instances that specifically come to mind was one play where KCP hacked Edwards [and he turned the ball over]: no call. Even with just the wide view on the TV and in real-time it was SO patently obvious that it was a hack. They showed the replay and he hacked down across BOTH forearms, didn't touch the ball at all (missed the ball by probably 6-8", in fact), and the recoil/reaction by Edwards as well as the trajectory of the ball also made it obvious it was a foul..........I cannot believe that not one of THREE officials caught that and made the correct call.

And then later after Edwards made a tough "big boy" bucket, he stared down KCP, and the ref called him for a technical. Not a word was exchanged, and the ref teed him up for a look. Come on. And then to make it worse, something like 5-10 minutes later, Jamal Murray did something similar to a TWolves player and: no call.

I was set to be so mad if the Wolves had lost by just 1-2 pts.

Anyway, awesome game.....

[Loaf_of_bread]

What a game! I got to watch it today (had recorded it and managed to avoid learning of spoilers).

Through much of the regular season, I must admit to thinking the Wolves were more of a paper tiger than a true contender; but now I'm starting to believe! They absolutely wupped Phoenix in the first round, steal game 1 from the defending champs IN DENVER?!? It seems possible (at least to win the West; idk if anyone can beat Boston).

They are definitely the team I'm rooting for this year, though.

I'm reluctant to say this, since I reprimanded a poster for seemingly baiting with this comment (after a different game)---and I would never say this on the Nuggets forum, where it more or less would be baiting.......but there were a couple moments where I was wondering if the refs were trying to help the Nuggets.

The instances that specifically come to mind was one play where KCP hacked Edwards [and he turned the ball over]: no call. Even with just the wide view on the TV and in real-time it was SO patently obvious that it was a hack. They showed the replay and he hacked down across BOTH forearms, didn't touch the ball at all (missed the ball by probably 6-8", in fact), and the recoil/reaction by Edwards as well as the trajectory of the ball also made it obvious it was a foul..........I cannot believe that not one of THREE officials caught that and made the correct call.

And then later after Edwards made a tough "big boy" bucket, he stared down KCP, and the ref called him for a technical. Not a word was exchanged, and the ref teed him up for a look. Come on. And then to make it worse, something 5-10 minutes, Jamal Murray did something similar to a TWolves player and: no call.

I was set to be so mad if the Wolves had lost by just 1-2 pts.

Anyway, awesome game.....

Nba has already rescinded the Ant tech. Jamal Murray pistol shooter thing has been talked about on all platforms.

Towns (in particular), Ant, and essentially everyone on our team has backed off with complaining to the refs. No idea of who is behind it, but thank you to whoever it was.

Now we have a forum mod making statements of potential rigging? If we just play our game, with intention and discipline, we can overcome rigging (which isn't even happening)

[life_saver]

A big thing I noticed so far in playoffs is that our guys are putting lot more effort on rebounding than they did in RS...it's been a big difference so far

[Guest84]

I was seeing a lot of nuggets fans thinking that AG is better than Kat. It’s crazy how Karl’s reputation has dropped over the years. Similar to Chuck, it’s like they think Towns does nothing but shoot 3s. Where’s his 22ppg coming from then??

[cmoss84]

Question for game 2:
What adjustments does Malone make?

[winforlose]

Question for game 2:
What adjustments does Malone make?

Leave Jaden and Rudy open more, double up more on the others. Less KCP, more Braun to defend Ant. Try and get Rudy and Karl in foul trouble, and more emphasis on the glass.

[TimberKat]

I was seeing a lot of nuggets fans thinking that AG is better than Kat. It’s crazy how Karl’s reputation has dropped over the years. Similar to Chuck, it’s like they think Towns does nothing but shoot 3s. Where’s his 22ppg coming from then??

Chuck never watched a Twolves game they play the Nuggets. Towns was an all star this year and AG is not. Kenny/Chuck basically said I didn't know that is how they play