It was a fairly solid weekend of NBA Playoff picks for the readers. We were able to get an easy win on the Magic team total over in Game 3 of their series against Detroit (Game 4 takes place tonight). We were also able to cash a ticket on the Thunder covering a fairly large number on the road against the Suns. Yesterday, the Cavs were in control until they did the typical Cleveland thing and blew the game late. It is almost as if every Cleveland sports team has decided to make the playoffs as unreliable as possible. Today, we go for a victory with the Timberwolves and the Nuggets taking each other on in Game 5.
This has been a bit of a chippy series, but it almost feels like that is precisely what the Timberwolves wanted. Minnesota has been the team calling out Denver about its defense, and they are happily accepting any sort of confrontation. Any team with Anthony Edwards on it will have some swagger, but this almost feels like the T-Wolves are being disrespectful to this challenger. I suppose it is working, considering the team is up 3-1 in the series.
However, there is a major cause for concern. The Timberwolves took a big hit last game, and I’m not talking about the shoving between Jaden McDaniels and Nikola Jokic. Their sharpshooter, Dante DiVincenzo, who was cited as a major reason they won Game 2, was lost for the season (and probably next season) after he tore his Achilles. Significantly worse, the Timberwolves also lost Edwards for a few weeks after he hyperextended his knee. If Minnesota is going to get one more game in this series to close it out, they need to do it without Edwards.
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The Nuggets do not look like the one-time champion that you’d expect. They are proving the Timberwolves correct in the assessment that their defense is trash. In three consecutive games, they’ve allowed over 112 points to their opponent, which is about the season average. They also only scored 96 points in both of the games in Minnesota. Rudy Gobert, the much-maligned center for the Timberwolves, is doing a great job of limiting Jokic’s success. We will have to see if Jokic can figure out Rudy’s defensive efforts.
Nuggets vs Timberwolves Game 3 pick hinges on Jaden McDaniels calling out Denver’s entire defense
Aaron Gordon has returned for Denver, but it does seem like he is still struggling. He only played 23 minutes and put in just nine points on 11 field goal attempts. Overall, the team shot just 21% from deep in this game. I have to imagine that improves. The team shot almost 40% from deep in the regular season, but they are shooting 28% overall in the series. That’s still better than what they showed in Game 4.
A lot of the story in Game 4 was about the ending. It is a stupid narrative, but it pops up every now and then. The game was essentially over — the Timberwolves had the ball with seconds remaining, tossed it down court, and rather than dribble it out, McDaniels went in for a layup. Jokic took exception to it, and there was some minor shoving. No one ended up getting suspended, but there were some fines.
Missed in that was the impressive game from Ayo Dosunmu of the Timberwolves. He was acquired at the trade deadline from the Bulls and gave Minnesota a career performance. Dosunmo scored 43 points in that game, but I wouldn’t expect that success to continue. He is listed at 19.5 points tonight, and I like the under. He is still a bit of a role player, and even though he will have an increased role, there won’t be home court or an element of surprise. Julius Randle will need to take over the bulk of the scoring duties, and I think he is more likely to go over 21.5 points. I’ll play both of these options tonight as Denver looks to extend the series.
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