The Denver Nuggets enter Saturday’s Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves as -1.5-point favorites, even as they deal with injuries to key wings Peyton Watson (hamstring) and Aaron Gordon (calf strain).
While Watson will sit out his 10th consecutive game — including the final six regular-season outings — Gordon is a game-time decision for David Adelman’s team.
Perhaps oddsmakers feel the Nuggets, who are in a near must-win situation, would play desperately enough to level the series before returning home for Game 5. There’s also a recent precedent of Denver recovering from similar situations. Last year, for example, Nikola Jokic and Co. were down 2-1 against the LA Clippers before winning the next two games and a Game 7 at home to advance to the second round.
Similarly, in 2024, the Nuggets tied up the series 2-2 against the Timberwolves after dropping the first two games at home.
Nikola Jokic vs Rudy Gobert
A notable storyline in the series so far has been Rudy Gobert’s one-on-one defensive pressure on Nikola Jokic. After holding Jokic to 7-of-26 shooting in the Game 3 win, Gobert explained why he has relished the matchup with the three-time MVP.
“Just trying to compete. He’s the greatest offensive player I’ve guarded in my whole career, so just try to enjoy the challenge and make him work as much as I can,” Gobert said of guarding Jokic, via BasketNews.
“It’s also a team effort. My teammates, I feel like tonight did a great job… Everyone just gave us something defensively, and then I just have to keep working, keep competing, keep trying to make him earn everything he gets. That’s the biggest thing.”
Denver Nuggets vs Timberwolves Game 4
The Nuggets would be in a deep hole if they fail to win on Saturday, as only teams in NBA postseason history have rallied back to win a 3-1 series. Incidentally, the Nuggets did it twice in 2020, beating the Utah Jazz and the LA Clippers.
Nuggets head coach David Adelman has reiterated that his team isn’t in panic mode yet.
“The panic is not going to be there,” Adelman said after the Game 3 loss.
“But without the panic, there has to be responsibility to get better for Game 4. And I mean it, after two straight losses, there were positives to look at and build on. And then there were a ton of negatives that we have to get better at.”
The Timberwolves, meanwhile, plan to continue using their strategy of attacking Denver’s “bad defenders” for the rest of the series.
“The downhill mindset he played with all season for us was back,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said the Game 3 win.
“I thought he was tentative to do that at first, kind of feeling his way through it. Obviously, it’s a big playoff experience for him and he answered the bell, whatever we needed from him.”
Nuggets vs Timberwolves Game 4 tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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