DENVER — The Denver Nuggets will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Semifinals in another rematch from the 2023 postseason, and we now know the dates of the games.
No. 2-seed Denver will have home-court advantage against Minnesota, which is the No. 3 seed in these playoffs. Game 1 is Saturday at Ball Arena.
This year's Timberwolves squad is a different bunch than the one the Nuggets ousted in five games in last year's first-round. It's a healthier Minnesota team that boasted the NBA's top scoring defense during the regular season.
Anthony Edwards, one of the game's rising stars, is also an even better version of himself in 2024. He scored 26 points, 5 rebounds and five assists per game during the regular season, and upped that line to 31, 8 and 6 in the T'Wolves' four-game sweep of the Phoenix Suns.
Edwards said he's using last year's playoff loss to the Nuggets as motivation this postseason.
"It was all the motivation I needed," he said. "I took a little pressure off myself when [Denver] won the championship, like, 'I lost to the championship team.' But yeah, man, I don't like that feeling at all. [...] Especially [losing] in five games, I mean, at least take them to seven [games,] so hopefully we play them a little tougher [this year]."
Denver and Minnesota split four regular-season contests in 2023-24. The Nuggets won a high-stakes matchup with Minnesota on April 10. The teams split a pair of March games, and Minnesota took the first matchup of the season back in November.
The Timberwolves will enter the series with some uncertainty on their bench. Head coach Chris Finch ruptured his patellar tendon during a collision with a Timberwolves player on Sunday and will have it surgically repaired on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Denver Nuggets
AP source: Ahead of game against Denver, Timberwolves coach to have surgery
See the schedule for the upcoming series below.
Denver Nuggets Western Conference Semifinals schedule:
• Game 1: Timberwolves @ Nuggets, Saturday, May 4 (5 p.m. MST on TNT)
• Game 2: Timberwolves @ Nuggets, Monday, May 6 (8 p.m. MST on TNT)
• Game 3: Nuggets @ Timberwolves, Friday, May 10 (7:30 p.m. MST on ESPN)
• Game 4: Nuggets @ Timberwolves, Sunday, May 12 (6 p.m. MST on TNT)
• Game 5: Timberwolves @ Nuggets, Tuesday, May 14 (TBD, TBD) *
• Game 6: Nuggets @ Timberwolves, Thursday, May 16 (TBD, TBD) *
• Game 7: Timberwolves @ Nuggets, Sunday, May 19 (TBD, TBD) *
* if necessary
