Both teams emerged victorious on Tuesday, with the Minnesota Timberwolves pulling off their best comeback of the year and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulling off their second-biggest comeback of the year. That was unfortunate for the Denver Nuggets, but the team from Mile High City managed to win on the road. The final three games of the season and, most likely, Wednesday night’s huge Denver vs. Minnesota battle will determine who will win the Western Conference of the NBA.
The two enter Wednesday tied for first with the Thunder just a game back. Minnesota holds the tiebreaker but Denver still controls its destiny since a win will push the T-Wolves down a spot. The Nuggets then play the West’s worst and third-worst teams to end their slate while Minny will face likely play-in teams Atlanta and Phoenix after the meeting in Colorado. Meanwhile, OKC hosts, the Spurs, and playoff-bound Bucks and Mavs. Denver just needs two wins, or two OKC losses, or one of each to clinch a top-two seed and homecourt through the first two rounds.
On Tuesday, the T-Wolves and Thunder erased 20-point deficits for their wins while the Nuggets cruised to a 111-95 win in Utah. It was the seventh time this season the Michael Malone-led team held their foes under 100, and the fourth time they recorded 10-plus blocks and 10-plus steals. The Nuggets team improved to 55-24, which is the second-most wins in an NBA season for Denver.
Tuesday was just Jamal Murray’s second game back after missing seven contests. He became the first Nugget ever to tally four-plus threes, four-plus steals and three-plus blocks in a night as he scored 28, threw four assists and snagged two boards as well. The Nuggets are now 16-1 this year when he scores 25 or more in a game.
The Nuggets will need that Blue Arrow Wednesday when hosting the T-Wolves. The Nuggets have played them twice in the past few months and won when Murray played and lost when he didn’t. Denver is 1-2 against the T-Wolves this regular season, a team they beat in five games last year in the first round. But that Twin Cities team was mins serious pieces in Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid. They’ll be without star Karl-Anthony Towns this time around but the Nuggets may be without Aaron Gordon, who missed Tuesday’s game with a foot injury.
Malone has said over and over that the top priority was health, not the one seed but even with both teams playing a back-to-back, Wednesday’s a huge one. Malone also credited, in part, the Nuggets 16-4 postseason record last year to getting the No. 1 seed. Simply said, the Nuggets can guarantee that Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals will be at home if they earn it against the T-Wolves.
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