The Denver Nuggets are favorites over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs.
They also have significantly better odds to win a championship this year.
But that doesn’t mean the No. 3 seed is automatically going to take down the No. 6 seed. Not with memories of what happened in 2024 still fresh, the Nuggets blowing a 20-point lead at home in Game 7 to the Wolves, ending their hopes of back-to-back titles.
A lot of key players from that team are still around, including Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun. Minnesota has made big trades since, but Anthony Edwards remains one of the most lethal players in the league.
This series will be fascinating, perhaps the best one in Round 1 across the entire league.
That’s why it was a bit of a surprise on Tuesday morning to see all 12 ESPN NBA “experts” pick the Nuggets to advance. Not one was willing to go out on a limb and take the Timberwolves in the upset.
Jerry Bembry: Denver in 7
Vincent Goodwill: Denver in 7
Baxter Holmes: Denver in 6
Zach Kram: Denver in 5
Tim MacMahon: Denver in 7
Dave McMenamin: Denver in 7
Anthony Slater: Denver in 7
Ramona Shelburne: Denver in 5
Marc J. Spears: Denver in 6
Michael C. Wright: Denver in 7
Ohm Youngmisuk: Denver in 7
Eric Moody: Denver in 6
That’s a final tally of 12-0, although many of those polled expect it to be a long series. Seven of the 12 on the panel have it going seven games. Only Ramona Shelburne and Zach Kram think it will end in five games. And no one picked a sweep.
On one hand, it’s good to be the favorite. That’s the point of getting the best seed possible in the regular season.
On the other side of the coin, the Nuggets were also a favorite going into the series in 2024 and we know how that ended up.
This is why they’ll play the games, with the series beginning on Saturday. We’ll have our answer in about 2.5 – 3 weeks of who’s officially moving on to Round 2.
