Nuggets vs. Timberwolves prediction: Have Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray solved Minnesota’s suffocating defense: From the first two games to the last four, the Western Conference Semifinals between the Nuggets and the Timberwolves have been very exciting. The first two games the Wolves played in Denver were easy wins. Then they lost the next two games in a very different way.
Now the series moves to Denver for a very important Game 5. It looks like BetMGM thinks the Nuggets will win against the Timberwolves (-185), but the game is far from over. Either of these two great teams could move on to the next round.
This is where the benefits are, and in the end, this person should have the upper hand.
Nuggets vs. Timberwolves prediction: Have Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray solved Minnesota’s suffocating defense
Why the Nuggets should be favored
Jamal Murray looks back
Murray only scored 12.5 points per game in the first two games of this series. This was likely because he looked like he was really hurt in his leg
.Murray seems to be in better shape now that he has had a few days off between Games 2 and 3. In Denver’s two wins, he averaged 21.5 points and made 50.0 percent of his shots from the field and 41.7 percent of his three-point shots.
He’s getting better at getting around screens and his runs to the basket. Their two-man game with Nikola Jokic is now much better because of that.
Nikola Jokic has figured out Minnesota’s defense
There was a new way for the Timber wolves to slow down that two-man game when they started the series. Karl-Anthony Towns, who is Joke’s friend, wasn’t asked to help with ball screens; instead, he was told to stay home and guard Joking. Instead, Rudy Robert, who was with Aaron Gordon, would help out.
That plan no longer works because of a small change. The Nuggets have been using “ram” screens to make more room between Towns and Jokic, which makes Towns more of a help player.
Aaron Gordon has punished Rudy Gobert
The Wolves were good at defended because they let Rigoberto sag off of Aaron Gordon and help defend Murray and Joking. Gordon has only made 32.3% of his 3s in his career, so that plan seemed good on paper.
In real life, Gordon has made it impossible. He’s made an amazing 66.7 percent of his three-point shots and scored 17.3 points per game, sometimes setting up his own offence and making tough shots.
The Nuggets have also done a great job of switching Robert to play other players, like Murray, Joking, and Ostentatious Caldwell-Pope. This has forced Robert out of his comfort zone and sometimes away from good help positions. They haven’t let him have as much of an effect on defence as he did in Game 1 for the Wolves.
The Wolves big men can’t play any worse
Towns and Robert had a terrible game in Game 4. Towns did the worst things he normally does, like making bad calls and getting lost on defensive. The last few plays of the game, he was pulled because he was making so many strange mistakes in Minnesota’s defensive covering.
Going forward, Rigoberto was worse than Towns when it came to defensive. He was terrible at passing out of the short roll, and he had some awkward offensive plays and missed four of nine free throws.
The Wolves only lost Game 4 by eight points, even though they played badly. It’s impossible for those two to play worse in this series, so they will get better.
Nuggets vs. Timberwolves prediction
This series is a great example of what people mean when they say that the playoffs are all about making changes. When they played, the Wolves had a great plan to stop Jokic and Murray, but the Nuggets were able to counter it. It’s now up to Minnesota to find out more.
That’s still a possibility. There were a lot of mental mistakes by the Timberwolves that cost them the game. In terms of skills, they have enough to win. Murray was so angry with them just a week ago that he was throwing things on the floor.
With two of the last three games being played in Denver, Minnesota will need to play perfectly to win the next two. That looks like a wall too high to climb. I am still going with the guess I made before the show started.
