Is this T Wolves team better than anyone Nuggets faced last playoffs?

[mdonnelly1989]

I think they are a more complete team than anyone Nuggets beat last year.

[Ito]

4-1 Nuggets

[The Warrior]

Premature.

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[badpotato]

Idk, how the answer can be anything other than resounding yes.
Undermanned version of the same roster gave Nuggets their toughest games last year, healthy Minesota will be even harder to beat.
I want this series to go to 7 and let the best team win.

[Up-And-Coming]

Timberwolves are good but I think all of this is soo premature. They're getting hyped like no other right now. Ant is the modern 2nd coming of Michael Jordan and the Timberwolves are getting favored by many to beat the Nuggets and it's largely just based off how they faired against their Round 1 opponent.

Timberwolves swept the Suns who many thought would put up a better fight and the Nuggets beat the Lakers in 5 but it was a much tougher matchup than many want to give the Lakers credit for so in turn they just say the Nuggets aren't as good as they were hyped to be.

Ant is shooting a career high 44% from 3 so far and averaging +31 ppg but in only 4 games (64.8 TS% vs his regular season 57.5 TS%). I'm not sure how sustainable that is. I still have the Nuggets in 5-6 games with a fairly wide point differential.

[badpotato]

How is this premature?

Same matchup happened last playoffs - Nuggets players themselves went on record and claimed that this was their toughest series.

Since then Minesota:
-got Gobert intergrated after trade with full season
-will have healthy Kat that is not coming back from injury and looks to be in much better form
-will have McDaniels and Naz healthy and playing
- Ant got better and progressed on his star trajectory

Meanwhile Denver is short an important bench piece in Brown from last year without much change otherwise.

Can Timberwolves roll over and get swept this series? Sure they can, stranger things have happened in playoffs - but there is no reson to think that is going to be the case.

[Cavsfansince84]

Both the TWolves and Thunder are.

[Sgt Major]

I think yes. Nuggets players said their toughest series last season was against the Wolves and they're even better this year.

[jkvonny]

Yes.

TWolves are a lot more mentally mature these days and healthy.

[garrick]

If the supporting players can continue to perform as they did in round 1 then Denver will have its hands full.

Conley and McDaniels in particular were punishing Phoenix even when Ant was shooting terribly so as long as they continue to contribute it will be a long series.

[Harry Garris]

The Nuggets faced this same team last year.

And yeah Ant’s better now than he was 12 months ago but it’s pretty much the same roster the Nuggets played in round 1 last season.

[CIN-C-STAR]

I don't think people realize that even with ANT getting better, the Wolves are likely worse next year unless ownership unexpectedly goes into the deep tax.
They are absolutely stacked right now. Their forward depth is among the best in the league, and doesn't even include their two best players (ANT and Gobert).

[ChipotleWest]

The Nuggets faced this same team last year.

And yeah Ant’s better now than he was 12 months ago but it’s pretty much the same roster the Nuggets played in round 1 last season.

Wolves were without Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels for the entire series, then Anderson got hurt in Game 4.

[SweaterBae]

Oops I voted no. I think this TWolves team would be the best team the Nuggets faced last year and it's not even close.

[Up-And-Coming]

How is this premature?

Same matchup happened last playoffs - Nuggets players themselves went on record and claimed that this was their toughest series.

Since then Minesota:
-got Gobert intergrated after trade with full season
-will have healthy Kat that is not coming back from injury and looks to be in much better form
-will have McDaniels and Naz healthy and playing
- Ant got better and progressed on his star trajectory

Meanwhile Denver is short an important bench piece in Brown from last year without much change otherwise.

Can Timberwolves roll over and get swept this series? Sure they can, stranger things have happened in playoffs - but there is no reson to think that is going to be the case.

The Nuggets beat the Timberwolves last playoffs in 5 games with a +44 point differential. Their team this season is largely the same although I do agree they have better chemistry and players like Anthony Edwards have improved. The question is how much have they improved?

If the Nuggets end up sweeping the Timberwolves or eliminating them rather easily then that absolutely means all this pre-series hype and high expectations were premature. It would mean the expectations were simply too high and too soon for a young star which would be disappointing because it can overshadow the great season the Timberwolves had despite whatever happens next in the playoffs. They're an exciting up-and-coming team from a small market that's easy to root for.

In regards to what players have said then that's their opinion which they're entitled too and we're just going to agree to disagree. The Timberwolves are a good team but it seems I'm in the vast minority here so far when it comes to how I think they'll fair this next series and how competitive the games will be overall. I could be totally wrong and they shock me and take the Nuggets to 7 or beat them but I just haven't seen enough right now.

[Cavsfansince84]

The Nuggets beat the Timberwolves last playoffs in 5 games with a +44 point differential. Their team this season is largely the same although I do agree they have better chemistry and players like Anthony Edwards have improved. The question is how much have they improved?

If the Nuggets end up sweeping the Timberwolves or eliminating them rather easily then that absolutely means all this pre-series hype and high expectations were premature. It would mean the expectations were simply too high and too soon for a young star which would be disappointing because it can overshadow the great season the Timberwolves had despite whatever happens next in the playoffs. They're an exciting up-and-coming team from a small market that's easy to root for.

In regards to what players have said then that's their opinion which they're entitled too and we're just going to agree to disagree. The Timberwolves are a good team but it seems I'm in the vast minority here so far when it comes to how I think they'll fair this next series and how competitive the games will be overall. I could be totally wrong and they shock me and take the Nuggets to 7 or beat them but I just haven't seen enough right now.

Dude... if a team goes from 42-40 with a -.22 srs to 56-26 with a 6.39 srs some pretty serious improvement happened. Now granted they could still lose in 5 but the Wolves this year are a way better team.

[Up-And-Coming]

The Nuggets beat the Timberwolves last playoffs in 5 games with a +44 point differential. Their team this season is largely the same although I do agree they have better chemistry and players like Anthony Edwards have improved. The question is how much have they improved?

If the Nuggets end up sweeping the Timberwolves or eliminating them rather easily then that absolutely means all this pre-series hype and high expectations were premature. It would mean the expectations were simply too high and too soon for a young star which would be disappointing because it can overshadow the great season the Timberwolves had despite whatever happens next in the playoffs. They're an exciting up-and-coming team from a small market that's easy to root for.

In regards to what players have said then that's their opinion which they're entitled too and we're just going to agree to disagree. The Timberwolves are a good team but it seems I'm in the vast minority here so far when it comes to how I think they'll fair this next series and how competitive the games will be overall. I could be totally wrong and they shock me and take the Nuggets to 7 or beat them but I just haven't seen enough right now.

Dude... if a team goes from 42-40 with a -.22 srs to 56-26 with a 6.39 srs some pretty serious improvement happened. Now granted they could still lose in 5 but the Wolves this year are a way better team.

I'm aware of the Timberwolves record improvement but a huge difference is Karl Anthony Towns was injured for a large chunk of last year's regular season and only played in 29 games but he also came back and played in every playoff game against the Nuggets. This season KAT has played 62 regular season games which rightfully has reflected on their improved record and srs.

Nobody said they're not a better team. I've admitted Ant has improved and their chemistry has improved. The disagreement is in the hype and degree that we think they've improved to close the gap against the Nuggets. If they still lose in 5 this year with a relatively large point differential then that proves my point. If it's much more competitive in a 7 game series or maybe they even beat the Nuggets then I was wrong and late on their hype train. All this of course barring significant injuries.

[FarBeyondDriven]

I think if the Wolves had McDaniels last year they might have beaten the Nuggets. So, with him back, he and Edwards a year further into their career and more developed plus the improved chemistry of the team as a whole, yeah, this is a bonafide championship caliber team they're facing and better than the team that was on the cusp from a year ago.

[TheFire]

Were they really their toughest matchup last year? I think only Bruce was on record saying that... The nuggets beat them pretty easily games 1-3. I know they lost game 4, but they almost came back to win it. I'd think it was the team that took 2 games from them.

[Cavsfansince84]

I'm aware of the Timberwolves record improvement but a huge difference is Karl Anthony Towns was injured for a large chunk of last year's regular season and only played in 29 games but he also came back and played in every playoff game against the Nuggets. This season KAT has played 62 regular season games which rightfully has reflected on their improved record and srs.

Nobody said they're not a better team. I've admitted Ant has improved and their chemistry has improved. The disagreement is in the hype and degree that we think they've improved to close the gap against the Nuggets. If they still lose in 5 this year with a relatively large point differential then that proves my point. If it's much more competitive in a 7 game series or maybe they even beat the Nuggets then I was wrong and late on their hype train. All this of course barring significant injuries.

If is a big word here. For all we know now the Wolves could beat the Nuggets and win the title. It wouldn't be that shocking to see happen given how many vets they have and if Edwards can give them close to 30ppg.