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The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets have now played each other 32 times over the last four seasons, splitting two previous playoff series.
My Timberwolves vs. Nuggets predictions and NBA picks expect the greatest antagonist in this rivalry to rise once more in Game 5 on Monday, April 27.
Despite leading this series 3-1, the Minnesota Timberwolves are only listed at -150 to win it at bet365.
Surely, they have a much better chance than 60%, right? They just won three straight games, snapping the Denver Nuggets’ 13-game winning streak.
Nope, these are the worries when your franchise cornerstone goes down with an injury to his good knee. Without Anthony Edwards — and Donte DiVincenzo — Minnesota suddenly has much to still worry about.
Enter Jaden McDaniels. The Timberwolves’ wing has angered and humiliated the Nuggets in every way.
First, McDaniels pointed out how poor they are defensively after Game 2. Then he backed it up by scoring 20 points on just 13 shots in Game 3.
To outdo himself, McDaniels capped Game 4 with a last-second layup that drew all of Denver’s remaining ire, which had somehow been absent for about 24 minutes in the second half.
McDaniels’s deep shooting has been a liability of late — 1-for-11 from beyond the arc in this series and 2-for-19 in his last six games — but when Edwards is sidelined, the sixth-year wing tends to dial up his offense.
McDaniels averaged 18.7 points in 16 games without Edwards this season, compared to 13.8 in 57 games alongside Edwards. He takes 3.6 more shots per game with Edwards sidelined, including an average of one additional 3-pointer.
These are the reasons McDaniels has topped this prop in 10 of those 16 games without Edwards, with two of those exceptions falling short by only the hook.
McDaniels should emphasize his mid-range game to once again expose the Nuggets’ defensive weaknesses.
The Timberwolves should run in Edwards’s absence. McDaniels, Bones Hyland, and Ayo Dosunmu will have much of the duty getting the ball up the court, and they will never turn down a chance to push the pace.
Those transition opportunities will help McDaniels score without living beyond the arc, where he has scuffled to a 10.5% showing in his last six games. Those opportunities will also create easy assist chances, and he already averages 3.2 assists without Edwards compared to 2.6 with the shooting guard in the lineup.
Know who will despise the Timberwolves’ escalated pace without Anthony Edwards? Nuggets’ star Nikola Jokic.
He already looks exhausted. One might wonder if his temper tantrum at the end of Game 4 was in part the result of shoddy judgment thanks to fatigue.
Jokic will struggle to get up and down the court with Hyland, Dosunmu, and McDaniels — and their pace will only further sap his legs.
Spread: Timberwolves +11 (-110) | Nuggets -11 (-110)
Denver has fallen short of its team total in every game of this series. Find more NBA betting trends for Timberwolves vs. Nuggets.