Denver (1-2) at Minnesota (2-1)
When: Sunday, May 12th 2024
Where: Target Center,
Minneapolis, MN
Time: 8:00 ET | TV: ABC
Opening Odds: Minnesota -2.5/205.5
How big was Denver’s Game 3 win at Minnesota on Friday night? Considering no team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 playoff deficit, really big. Denver will now try and even the series up at 2-2 when they take on the Timberwolves on Sunday night. Minnesota comes into this contest as a 3-point favorite with a total of 204.5. After splitting the regular season series evenly, Minnesota absolutely dominated the Nuggets in the first two games at Denver. Two of the first three games in this series have gong Under, which makes sense as only the losing team in each game has scored less than 100.
Oddsmakers continue to favor Minnesota to win this series at -210 and Denver at +175. Denver began the series as the -200 favorites. The favored exact series result is now a Minnesota win in six games at +200 and the biggest long shot is a Denver win in six at +700. These teams are both second and third on the NBA championship odds board, with the Timberwolves at +375 and the Nuggets at +700. They both trail the Boston Celtics at -115.
DENVER NUGGETS
Denver bounced back in a big way on Friday night with a resounding 117-90 road win to stay in the series. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each recorded a game-high 24 points. Jokic nearly got a triple-double as he also had 14 rebounds and nine assists. Michael Porter Jr. added 21 points and Denver shot a sizzling 14-for-29 from three-point range. They are still up against it as only five teams in NBA history have lost the first two games of a best-of-seven series at home and rallied to win the series. Denver is now 2-9 ATS in the last 11 meetings with Minnesota.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
After averaging 35 points over the first two games of the series, Anthony Edwards was held to a team-high 19 on Friday. Despite Karl-Anthony Towns nailing four of five attempts from beyond the arc, Minnesota shot just 10-for-32 as a team from long range. The Timberwolves trailed by as many as 34 points in the game as they became the last playoff team to lose this year. Towns finished with 14 points, while Mike Conley Jr. and Jaden McDaniels each had 10.
Prediction:
Denver was terrific in Game 3, but Minnesota is still the play at home. I think Minnesota is the best team in the West right now and I fully expect a bounce back on Sunday night. They are on a 7-2 ATS run against the Nuggets and haven’t lost back-to-back games since early March.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
