2024 NBA Playoffs: West Semifinals: #2 Denver Nuggets vs #3 Minnesota Timberwolves (MIN WINS 4-3)

[In-N-Out 247]

My expectations for tonight:

-Wolves guard Denver straight up.

I don't know if that'll be a good idea. Man D is only so effective against what Denver does, and they explicitly use a lot of 2-man game to get the matchups they want.

-Ant goes off. Again.

That seems likely.

Should be a great game.

I expect this to be true as well; I'm looking forward to it. Best series in the PS so far.

Not sure I would go that far - games 1 & 4 were fairly close, but for both games the winning team felt in control down the stretch. Games 2 & 3 were absolute blowouts.

Will be interesting to see if Denver keeps the momentum going or if Minnesota can back to playing how they did in games 1 & 2.

[Exp0sed]

for me this game 5 will be decided by KAT and Gobert

in game 4 they simply folded, both of them. yeah, they both started the game poorly (it happens) but Denver was up big pretty quick and they just folded, they didn't bring it. they don't have to excellent or anything but they have to bring it effort wise, body language, demeanor - all of it. if they don't bring it tonight then the Wolves are toast, Finch had a couple of days to get them to the right headspace and maybe it'll oddly be easier for them, in Denver vs. the hostile crowd, to muster up that competitiveness they lacked in game 3 and especially 4

50/50 game imo

[KGDirkTD_Fan]

My expectations for tonight:

-Wolves guard Denver straight up.

I don't know if that'll be a good idea. Man D is only so effective against what Denver does, and they explicitly use a lot of 2-man game to get the matchups they want.

-Ant goes off. Again.

That seems likely.

Should be a great game.

I expect this to be true as well; I'm looking forward to it. Best series in the PS so far.

Not sure I would go that far - games 1 & 4 were fairly close, but for both games the winning team felt in control down the stretch. Games 2 & 3 were absolute blowouts.

Will be interesting to see if Denver keeps the momentum going or if Minnesota can back to playing how they did in games 1 & 2.

Folks here really love the Knicks/Sixers series. This one is 2nd/3rd for me, might change my mind if it goes 7 though.

[tsherkin]

Not sure I would go that far

That's your business. I haven't enjoyed any other series as much as this one.

[Quentin]

Double teams are still man D (man D is non-zone) but I see what you’re saying.

Yes, I follow, I just don't think attempting to play straight-up man D is a super good idea. They're gonna need to flood, they're gonna need to pull out every trick they've got, because Denver is a nasty offensive dynamo.

We'll see what happens, though. Not doubling is going to create opportunities, and single coverage for Jokic may prove fairly hilarious. But then, maybe not. I suppose we'll see. It's a game to watch, no doubt. Worth watching all the way through.

I mean, it's 2024, you obviously can't let Rudy guard Jokic solely straight up, because if Jokic knows no help is coming, doesn't even have to look over his shoulder or take certain tougher angles to protect the ball - that'll be BBQ chicken, so u def have to mix it up at least once in a while, send a double at an opprtune moment

but still, that could be ur default and imo they should. yes, on some night Jokic looks completely comfortable scoring in general and scoring on Rudy in particular but other times, when refs allow that illegal contact to the lower body during or right after the shot - he can make Jokic miss from time to time and when he misses because of that lower body contact he's rarely in a position to rebound as well so Rudy can rack up those boards easily. it really depends on how the game is called tbh. if the refs are swallowing their whistles then it's a viable strategy, at least for parts of the game and the only way to find out how the refs are calling it, is to run it :)

So Jokic will score (or get the rebound if he misses) every time on Gobert unless he's fouled but it's allowed?

[Wolfgang630]

Why is this game starting so late. NBA schedule sucks

[DonaldSanders]

-The refs suddenly let the Wolves play defense again. ($$$$$$$$$$$)


Should be a great game.

Hmm I actually thought the last game was pretty physical, and it's not like Denver had a parade to the FT line or anything. I didn't think Minnesota wasn't allowed to play defense, Jamal Murray just looks more spry with time/rest.

[shrink]

It's a freaking joke that this game is starting at 10:30PM EST..Why on earth is it starting so late ?? Atleast ensure a 9:30 start time at worst..I really don't understand how you can have such a late starting time on a weekday

NBA scared to have the champs compete for ratings with with Caitlyn Clark’s WNBA debut.

[thinktank]

-The refs suddenly let the Wolves play defense again. ($$$$$$$$$$$)


Should be a great game.

Hmm I actually thought the last game was pretty physical, and it's not like Denver had a parade to the FT line or anything. I didn't think Minnesota wasn't allowed to play defense, Jamal Murray just looks more spry with time/rest.

They had a big foul advantage until the end of the game.

[azcatz11]

Why is this game starting so late. NBA schedule sucks

I don't know how you guys stay up so late for the west coast games...I couldn't imagine having to start watching the game at 10:30pm...crazy lol

[DonaldSanders]

They had a big foul advantage until the end of the game.

Twolves got called for 21 fouls, Denver 20.

In the 4th quarter it was:
Twolves: 6
Denver: 7

[thinktank]

They had a big foul advantage until the end of the game.

Twolves got called for 21 fouls, Denver 20.

In the 4th quarter it was:
Twolves: 6
Denver: 7

We attended and watched it closely. Please show us the first three quarters also. Thanks.

Also, the nature of the fouls matters too. Good calls / bad calls and timing in the flow of the game.

NBA has called in Brothers and Foster and they did their thing. NBA and refs know EXACTLY what they’re going: $$$$$.

I’m not saying the refs lost us the game but how can you go from Game 2 where nothing is called to the recent games where it’s a foul when Jokic puts his shoulder down?

I think it’s fair to ask for more consistency.

Den vs Mn fouls:

Q1 5 to 6
Q2 4 to 5
Q3 4 to 5.

So going into the 4th they called 3 more fouls against us. I think it was 18 to 21 at one point in the 4th Q. So again, it evened out VERY late. Quite a few were bad calls, imo. $$$$

EDIT:

A slight foul difference is ALL you need to influence a game because it forces certain players to sit on the bench when they normally wouldn’t. In this game, for most of the game, the Wolves starters had approximately one more foul than the Nuggets starters. And they weren’t obvious fouls, my friends.

[GeorgeSears]

There's not a single game this series where I felt the refs decided the outcome. In fact, there isn't a game in these playoffs that I felt the refs had undue influence. It's a bit cliche, but it has come down to the players and strategy.

BTW: No Brothers or Foster in this one.

[durden_tyler]

i don't think i have it in me to bet against Jokic anymore that the easy decision is just to bet on him and his team the rest of the playoffs. LOL. Nuggets -4, let's get this!

[gobeklitepe]

They had a big foul advantage until the end of the game.

Twolves got called for 21 fouls, Denver 20.

In the 4th quarter it was:
Twolves: 6
Denver: 7

We attended and watched it closely. Please show us the first three quarters also. Thanks.

Also, the nature of the fouls matters too. Good calls / bad calls and timing in the flow of the game.

NBA has called in Brothers and Foster and they did their thing. NBA and refs know EXACTLY what they’re going: $$$$$.

I’m not saying the refs lost us the game but how can you go from Game 2 where nothing is called to the recent games where it’s a foul when Jokic puts his shoulder down?

I think it’s fair to ask for more consistency.

Den vs Mn fouls:

Q1 5 to 6
Q2 4 to 5
Q3 4 to 5.

So going into the 4th they called 3 more fouls against us. I think it was 18 to 21 at one point in the 4th Q. So again, it evened out VERY late. Quite a few were bad calls, imo. $$$$

EDIT:

A slight foul difference is ALL you need to influence a game because it forces certain players to sit on the bench when they normally wouldn’t. In this game, for most of the game, the Wolves starters had approximately one more foul than the Nuggets starters. And they weren’t obvious fouls, my friends.

You are totally right. It should have been:
Q1 5 to 5
Q2 5 to 5
Q3 5 to 5

And in the fourth quarter 5 to 5. We cant have certain teams getting the unfair advantage of +3 foul calls in three quarters, its absurd.

[thinktank]

Twolves got called for 21 fouls, Denver 20.

In the 4th quarter it was:
Twolves: 6
Denver: 7

We attended and watched it closely. Please show us the first three quarters also. Thanks.

Also, the nature of the fouls matters too. Good calls / bad calls and timing in the flow of the game.

NBA has called in Brothers and Foster and they did their thing. NBA and refs know EXACTLY what they’re going: $$$$$.

I’m not saying the refs lost us the game but how can you go from Game 2 where nothing is called to the recent games where it’s a foul when Jokic puts his shoulder down?

I think it’s fair to ask for more consistency.

Den vs Mn fouls:

Q1 5 to 6
Q2 4 to 5
Q3 4 to 5.

So going into the 4th they called 3 more fouls against us. I think it was 18 to 21 at one point in the 4th Q. So again, it evened out VERY late. Quite a few were bad calls, imo. $$$$

EDIT:

A slight foul difference is ALL you need to influence a game because it forces certain players to sit on the bench when they normally wouldn’t. In this game, for most of the game, the Wolves starters had approximately one more foul than the Nuggets starters. And they weren’t obvious fouls, my friends.

You are totally right. It should have been:
Q1 5 to 5
Q2 5 to 5
Q3 5 to 5

And in the fourth quarter 5 to 5. We cant have certain teams getting the unfair advantage of +3 foul calls in three quarters, its absurd.

I totally see your point, but of course I don’t expect even fouls every quarter. We lost the foul battle until the end. It’s true! Did you watch the game? There were ridiculous fouls being called against us that weren’t even remotely possible in the first two games.

Just be consistent. But we know Brothers and Fister can’t do that. They did exactly what we thought they would. $$$$$

[Bank Shot]

Conley out. Rip to Wolves.

[LeBronSpaghetti]

Conley out. Rip to Wolves.

Who will start for him?

[TimberKat]

Why is this game starting so late. NBA schedule sucks

I don't know how you guys stay up so late for the west coast games...I couldn't imagine having to start watching the game at 10:30pm...crazy lol

yes, tell the NYK to hurry up and finish their game. It's 9:05CT and they just starting the 4th QTR

[thinktank]

Conley out. Rip to Wolves.

Who will start for him?

Finch has gone with Anderson. Yikes.

I would hate that.