First Playoff Game

[Coolbreeze44]

Saturday @2:30 Central Time. Opening line is Nuggets by 5.5

[kekgeek]

It’s a joke that it’s on prime. By far the most interesting series behind a paywall (I say this as a guy who has prime)

[Coolbreeze44]

It’s a joke that it’s on prime. By far the most interesting series behind a paywall (I say this as a guy who has prime)

We might Hear: CAAAAASSSSHHHHH

[AussieWolf3]

So here's the question:
What are the biggest x-factors in this series?

My initial impression would be:

Randle's defense - can he provide a KAT like resistance to Jokic?

Jaden's offense - Denver low-key has no answer for him, will this team tap into that?

Naz Ried - the Wolves need Naz to find his game again and he need to lead the charge off the bench to win the non Jokic minutes

[Phenom]

So here's the question:
What are the biggest x-factors in this series?

My initial impression would be:

Randle's defense - can he provide a KAT like resistance to Jokic?

Jaden's offense - Denver low-key has no answer for him, will this team tap into that?

Naz Ried - the Wolves need Naz to find his game again and he need to lead the charge off the bench to win the non Jokic minutes

3 point shooting for Aaron Gordon, Tim Hardway Jr and Christian Braun is something I will be watching closely.

How much will the Wolves be willing to concede to Gordon and Hardaway?

Can Braun keep the Wolves honest?

I am also interested in how/who the Wolves guard Jamal Murray? I think this could be a big Ayo assignment.

[FNG]

Agree that it's horrible to put this on Prime, although I also have it. I'm happy though that it's an afternoon game since I have plans Saturday night. I'm concerned though that game 1 might put me in a sour mood Saturday night.

I spent the weekend driving back from Tucson and listened to the Denver/Spurs game on the radio. What a disappointment...wasn't SA favored by 14 points? I really wanted a soft first round series against the Lakers followed by a fun second round against the Spurs. But a Denver team not playing any of their top 7 players other than 15 minutes for Jokic easily beat a Spurs team only resting Wemby.

How did they do it? They are really deep. I just checked their stats, and they have 11 players shooting 38% or better on 3-pointers, and they are close to 40% as a team! As I listened to Strawther and Jones making 8 out of 12 treys, I felt worse and worse about having to face the Nuggets in round 1. I think we are better than last year...um, if healthy (and we still don't know enough about Ant). Adding Ayo, SloMo and essentially Bones more than makes up for losing NAW and the decline of Mike. But I also think Denver is much better than either of their teams the past two years. Yes, they are deep, but Jokic and Murray are still the story, and they are both better than ever. Joker averaged an absurd 28/13/11, and Murray averaged 25/7 on 43.5% 3-point shooting. Gordon was a 29% three-point shooter when we beat them in 7 games 2 years ago, and Rudy could let him shoot and stay near the paint...you can't do that anymore with Gordon now a 39% shooter beyond the arc. I'm not discounting OkC or the Spurs, but I think the Nuggets might be the team to beat...they've won 12 games in a row. The NBA world is calling this the best first round series, and I get it...but I also note that the Nuggets are -350 to win the series.

I may change my mind as the week goes on, but right now I have little optimism about this series.

[Phenom]

Rudy is another key piece to watch this series. The Wolves will either need to figure out a way to score better with Rudy on the court (pace) or defend better with him on the bench (Slo Mo).

[AussieWolf3]

Rudy is another key piece to watch this series. The Wolves will either need to figure out a way to score better with Rudy on the court (pace) or defend better with him on the bench (Slo Mo).

I don't think it's either or, it's an 'and' situation. Kyle needs to help maintain a high level of defense in his minutes.
I hope the team doesn't fall for the bait and think that they need to win this in a shoot out. Ultimately their offense will be good enough to score in the half court, but to win the series they need to play aggressive and locked in defense so they can create turnover opportunities and score in transition.

We just haven't really gotten a good chance to see the full iteration of this roster healthy and playing together, so it's gonna be interesting to see how quickly they jell and adapt to each other. Is iso ball, and disconnected defense in the past, or will they resort to their worst habits when the pressure is on?

[WildWolf2813]

Nuggets by 15.

The way to limit what Denver can do is make Jokic a bucket.


I'd rather him average 40 a night but under 7 assists a game. When Jokic can't pass, the offense stalls. That's how we won last series.

[rapsuperstar31]

So here's the question:
What are the biggest x-factors in this series?

My initial impression would be:

Randle's defense - can he provide a KAT like resistance to Jokic?

Jaden's offense - Denver low-key has no answer for him, will this team tap into that?

Naz Ried - the Wolves need Naz to find his game again and he need to lead the charge off the bench to win the non Jokic minutes

3 point shooting for Aaron Gordon, Tim Hardway Jr and Christian Braun is something I will be watching closely.

How much will the Wolves be willing to concede to Gordon and Hardaway?

Can Braun keep the Wolves honest?

I am also interested in how/who the Wolves guard Jamal Murray? I think this could be a big Ayo assignment.

Braun has been a brick factory all three years of his playoffs experience. Shot 28.9% against OKC in last season series, as they left him and Westbrook wide open all game to focus on the others. Bruan is having his worst 3 point shooting year of his career this year down 9.6% from last year. When they came back to beat San Antonio a few games ago, Bruan hit 5-11 on those open looks that San Antonio gave him. We absolutely can't have him hitting his shots in the series.