Skip to content

Underdog Nuggets Outright Pick to Oust Timberwolves in Game 6

What a difference a couple of games can make. The defending champion Denver Nuggets looked dead in the water after two games of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Now they head into Game 6 on Thursday with a chance to end the series with a win.

 

Underdog Nuggets Outright Pick to Oust Timberwolves in Game 6
Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets | Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP

Denver is suddenly looking like the team that lost just four playoff games on its way to its first NBA title last season, winning the last three games of this series easily. That includes Tuesday night’s 112-97 win at home, the first victory by a host team in the series, as Denver is all of a sudden looking like the NBA betting favorite to come out of the Western Conference.

Minnesota must make that two straight wins by the home team to keep its hopes alive to eliminate the Nuggets. The Timberwolves won their first six games this postseason but have struggled over the last three contests..

Nuggets vs Timberwolves Game Information

  • Game: Nuggets (3-2) vs Timberwolves (2-3)
  • Start time: 8:30 p.m. ET
  • Day Game: Thursday, May 16,
  • Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
  • Nuggets vs Timberwolves Live Stream: NBA Game Pass

 

These two teams split their regular-season series, with each team winning once on the opposition’s home floor. Denver won a first-round playoff series against Minnesota last season in only the second postseason matchup between these teams.

The NBA odds for Game 6 of this series favor the Timberwolves on their home floor, giving two points to the Nuggets. Betting on the moneyline will get you Minnesota at -130 odds while Denver is listed at +110 for an outright win.

The over/under for Thursday’s contest has been set at 204½ points, with -110 odds on both sides of the wager.

 

 

Nuggets vs Timberwolves Head-to-Head

Nuggets vs Timberwolves Odds and Spreads

  • Denver is 10-5 straight-up in its last 15 games against Minnesota.
  • The Timberwolves are 6-3 ATS in their last nine contests.
  • The total has gone over in Minnesota’s last five games at home.
  • The total has gone over in the Nuggets’ last nine games when playing on the road against Minnesota.
  • Denver is 5-2 ATS in its last seven games played in May.

Jokic Shows Why He’s MVP

Before Game 5, Nikola Jokic was given the trophy for his third NBA MVP award. Then he showed the Timberwolves exactly why he has earned those accolades.

Jokic was masterful in the Nuggets’ win, finishing with 40 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and two steals, doing much of his damage against Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. Jokic was 15 of 22 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, and hit 8 of 9 free throws in dominating the Timberwolves.

“I just laugh. That’s all I can do,”

Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards said of Jokic. “I can’t be mad. He’s good, man.”

I think I said that after Game 1 when we won, and Game 2, he’s the MVP. He’s the best player in the NBA. He showed it the last three games, three games in a row. He was special tonight. I’ve got to give him his flowers. He was that guy tonight.”

Jokic had 16 points and four assists in the third quarter, when the Nuggets took control of the game. And he finished with zero turnovers in the contest.


The Nuggets also got another big game from forward Aaron Gordon, who had a double-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. The frontcourt duo has been dominant in the last three games as Denver has turned things around completely.

Unless the Timberwolves can find a way to slow down the two big men, they will have a very difficult time sending this series to a Game 7.

 

 

Timberwolves Must Find Offensive Groove

The Timberwolves struggled offensively against the Nuggets in Game 5, with veteran point guard Mike Conley Jr. missing the game due to a sore right Achilles tendon. It was the second time in three games that Minnesota failed to score 100 points, and if the team isn’t going to be scoring at a high rate, it’s going to have trouble against the efficient Nuggets.

Edwards was the star of the first two games of the series, averaging 35.0 points, but he’s scored under 20 in two of the last three contests. Without Conley, Edwards became more of a playmaker in Game 5, finishing with nine assists, but he also had four turnovers and shot just 33.3% from the floor, including hitting just 1 of 5 from 3-point range.

Still, despite three straight losses, the Timberwolves are feeling confident they can send this series to a Game 7.

“It comes down to Game 6 at home and that’s exactly where we want to be,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “A lot of game, a lot of series left, we’ve got to force it into a Game 7, but most importantly, we’ve got to regroup, get guys focusing on what we need to do and they’ve been good at that all season. So, we’ll be ready.”

Whether Conley will be ready or not is unknown as he was a late scratch from the lineup before Game 5. But Gobert must be ready to play and play well on the defensive end, where he was mostly ineffective in trying to stop Jokic.

Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns have been very good defensively all season long, and they must come up with a big effort in Game 6 to extend this series.

“Adversity has been something we’ve answered all year,” Towns said after leading Minnesota with 23 points in the Game 5 loss. “It’s something that if I was to go through this with anyone, I would go through it with these guys in this locker room. I have full confidence in these guys, I have full confidence in our locker room, I have confidence in our coaching staff.”

Nuggets to Roll to Series Win

Minnesota is saying it is confident it can force this series to a Game 7, but we’re not. Denver has found its winning formula and is looking like the best team in the NBA right now.

The Timberwolves will put up a fight, but you should make your NBA picks on the visiting Nuggets to come away with the outright victory in this one.

Bet $200, Get $450 Bonus on first deposit! Power up your picks!

 

 

Questions of the Day

How many times have the Nuggets and Timberwolves played in the postseason?


This is the third all-time playoff series between these clubs, with the Nuggets winning last season and the Timberwolves coming away victorious in 2004.

 

The odds and predictions in the article are based on the time of writing and publication. They may differ as to when the actual event takes place.

Did you find this article interesting?

Comments (0)

Featured Picks

Related News