Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (54-28, third in the Western Conference)Denver; Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EDTLINE: Nuggets -6.5; over/under is 231.5WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Nuggets host first series matchupBOTTOM LINE: The Denver Nuggets host the Minnesota Timberwolves in game one of the Western Conference first round. Denver went 3-1 against Minnesota during the regular season. The Timberwolves won the last regular season meeting 117-108 on Sunday, March 1 led by 21 points from Anthony Edwards, while Nikola Jokic scored 35 points for the Nuggets.The Nuggets are 11-5 against Northwest Division teams. Denver is third in the Western Conference with 34.2 defensive rebounds per game led by Jokic averaging 9.9.The Timberwolves are 9-7 against the rest of the division. Minnesota ranks second in the Western Conference shooting 37.0% from 3-point range.The 122.1 points per game the Nuggets score are 7.5 more points than the Timberwolves allow (114.6). The Timberwolves are shooting 48.1% from the field, 1.3% higher than the 46.8% the Nuggets’ opponents have shot this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Jokic is scoring 27.7 points per game with 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray is averaging 22.3 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 51.0% over the last 10 games.Popular ReadsRudy Gobert is scoring 10.9 points per game and averaging 11.5 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Julius Randle is averaging 15.2 points and 4.0 rebounds over the last 10 games.LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 10-0, averaging 131.2 points, 48.6 rebounds, 32.6 assists, 6.3 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 51.2% from the field. Th …
