A 2-0 series deficit looked inevitable. But just when you think you have these Wolves figured out, think again. As they’re wont to do, the Timberwolves flipped the script. They went on an offensive surge in the second quarter with a small-ball matchup to get back into the game.

The Wolves and Denver have met in the postseason in recent years, with the Nuggets winning 4-1 in the 1st round of the 2023 playoffs and the Wolves winning 4-3 in the 2nd round of the 2024 playoffs. Like this year, Denver had homecourt advantage in those two matchups.

Series 1-1, shifts to Minnesota. Nuggets starters Nikola Jokić, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cameron Johnson are all back after missing significant time during the regular season. And a loaded West bracket is on notice.

One thing better than a devastating two-man game is a lethal two-quarter performance. The Nuggets fueled easy Minnesota points in the first 12 minutes courtesy of turnovers. The fourth quarter wound up essentially even. But the second and third were when the game cracked open.

And while their impacts on the upcoming first-round series, which starts Saturday in Denver, will go a long way toward determining who advances in the Western Conference playoffs, they won’t be alone.

The Nuggets and Timberwolves will meet in the No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup out west in the first round of the NBA playoffs. It should be one of the most exciting first-round series with two elite All-Stars in Nikola Jokic and Anthony Edwards going head-to-head.

The Western Conference’s third-seeded Denver Nuggets will take on the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs. It’s the third time these teams have squared off in the last four postseasons — the kind of contempt-breeding familiarity that plans the seeds of one of those

Get the latest on the Denver Nuggets injury report ahead of their playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.