Who’s Hitting The Ball Harder This Year, And Who’s Just Getting Lucky?

The basketball robot programmed to troubleshoot and negate any problem with relative ease encountered a worthy brain-teaser Saturday night. How does one center adjust to a team that’s able to throw three capable and well-rested bigs at him throughout the course of a game? Nikola Jokic was actually stumped. “Have a duplicate clone of myself,” he said finally.

Anthony Edwards is the future, and the evolution was televised Saturday night. The Nuggets lost for only the second time in their past 15 home playoff games, dropping the opener 106-99 in the Western Conference semifinals. As fans shrugged toward the exits at Ball Arena, one thing was clear: The Minnesota Timberwolves are way better than the whiny Lakers. First, the obvious.

The Denver Nuggets lost the first game of the second-round NBA playoff series to the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-99 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Saturday night, May 4, 2024.

Foul trouble is rarely a blessing in disguise. It might’ve helped the Timberwolves steal a road game in the first chapter of what’s sure to be a bitterly competitive series. NBA Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid played prolonged fourth-quarter minutes with Karl-Anthony Towns in foul trouble, and his 10-point burst in the last six minutes handed the Nuggets a 106-99 Game 1 loss on Saturday night. This is the first time in the last two postseasons that Denver has trailed a series.

Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday. Naz Reid took over in the fourth: Timberwolves forward Naz Reid was named this season’s Sixth Man of the Year for a reason. But how many walked into Ball Arena on Saturday expecting Reid to turn into an All-Star in the fourth?

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