Considering this has been one of the most competitive NBA regular seasons in decades, it’s appropriate that playoff positioning will come down to the final day. The Western Conference race has been fascinating to watch over the past several months. It’s all boiled down to this: the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves will go head-to-head for the final playoff spot Wednesday night.
The game is slated for 8 p.m. EST. Minnesota will host.
Both teams won their Monday-night games. Minnesota defeated the lowly Memphis Grizzlies, 113-94, behind 24 points from both Jeff Teague and Karl-Anthony Towns, who added 18 rebounds. Denver topped the sliding Portland Trailblazers, 88-82, behind Nikola Jokic’s triple double. The Joker racked up 15 points, 20 boards, and 11 assists.
Denver Rebounds
The Nuggets were 41-35 in early April and were in 10th in the West when Gary Harris got hurt. Thanks to Jamal Murray’s emergence, the Nuggets have gained ground.
Denver is surging, having won six straight.
JUST. KEEP. WINNING.
SIX STRAIGHT VICTORIES pic.twitter.com/XW1rTcDNl5
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 10, 2018
Minnesota Struggles
Minnesota, meanwhile, has underperformed. At the start of this year, the team was thought to have three stars: Towns, Jimmy Butler, and Andrew Wiggins. Butler has only played in 58 games, but he has been solid. Towns has been great, too. Wiggins, however, has underperformed. He’s shooting only 32.7 percent from three-point range and just hasn’t brought it from night to night.
The Wolves looked like a lock to qualify for the postseason as recently as March, but Butler’s injury proved costly. Tom Thibodeau’s squad is only playing .500 basketball since the All-Star Break.
This showdown is essentially a playoff play-in. Houston, the No. 1 seed, waits to find out its opponent.
The East seeds have not yet been resolved, either. Milwaukee, Miami, and Washington are caught in a logjam at the bottom of the standings.
The highly anticipated NBA Playoffs will kick off Saturday.
