Minnesota Timberwolves (42-40, eighth in the Western Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (53-29, first in the Western Conference)
Denver; Sunday, 10:30 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Nuggets -7.5; over/under is 226.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Nuggets host first series matchup
BOTTOM LINE: The Denver Nuggets host the Minnesota Timberwolves to start the Western Conference first round. Denver and Minnesota tied the regular season series 2-2. The Nuggets won the last regular season meeting 146-112 on Feb. 8. Michael Porter Jr. led the Nuggets with 30 points, and Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 19 points.
The Nuggets have gone 34-18 against Western Conference teams. Denver is second in the league with 28.9 assists per game. Nikola Jokic leads the Nuggets averaging 9.8.
The Timberwolves are 8-8 against the rest of their division. Minnesota ranks sixth in the Western Conference with 26.2 assists per game led by Mike Conley averaging 6.7.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jokic is averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists for the Nuggets. Bruce Brown is averaging 15 points over the past 10 games for Denver.
Edwards is averaging 24.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals for the Timberwolves. Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 16.6 points over the last 10 games for Minnesota.
LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 5-5, averaging 109.7 points, 44.6 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 7.9 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.4 points per game.
Timberwolves: 7-3, averaging 117.0 points, 43.6 rebounds, 28.5 assists, 7.1 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 49.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 114.7 points.
INJURIES: Nuggets: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: day to day (illness), Jamal Murray: day to day (thumb), Aaron Gordon: day to day (shoulder), Collin Gillespie: out (leg), Jeff Green: day to day (face), Nikola Jokic: day to day (calf).
Timberwolves: Naz Reid: out (wrist), Jaden McDaniels: out (hand).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
