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Another Timberwolves-Nuggets Playoff Series Begins Saturday in Denver

Minnesota and Denver will meet in the postseason for the third time in four years.
Will Ragatz|
Mar 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) defends on Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the first quarter at Ball Arena.
Mar 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) defends on Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the first quarter at Ball Arena. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Timberwolves

They meet again.

For the third time in the last four years, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves will face Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in the NBA playoffs. The Nuggets beat the Spurs on Sunday night and secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, finishing one spot ahead of the Lakers. The Wolves have been locked into the No. 6 seed for several days.

All of the matchups in the West:

  • No. 1 Oklahoma City (64-18) vs. No. 8 TBD
  • No. 2 San Antonio (62-20) vs. No. 7 TBD
  • No. 3 Denver (54-28) vs. No. 6 Minnesota (49-33)
  • No. 4 LA Lakers (53-29) vs. No. 5 Houston (52-30)

In the play-in tournament, No. 7 Phoenix will host No. 8 Portland. The No. 9 LA Clippers will host the No. 10 Warriors. The winner of the 7-8 game will be the 7 seed, while the loser of the 7-8 game will play the winner of the 9-10 game to determine the 8 seed.

Had the Spurs beaten the Nuggets on Sunday, the Lakers would've won a tiebreaker with Denver and been the 3 seed, which would've meant the Timberwolves opening the playoffs in Los Angeles against a shorthanded Lakers team that's currently without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

The Nuggets led by as many as 23 points in the first half, with Jokic playing and Victor Wembanyama resting for San Antonio. Jokic then sat out the second half and the Spurs cut their deficit down to 6 points a couple times in the fourth quarter, but the Nuggets held on and won 128-118.

In the 2023 postseason, the Nuggets beat the Wolves in five games on their way to the NBA title. Minnesota was without Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid in that series due to injury.

A year later, the two teams met in the second round. The Wolves took a 2-0 lead in that series, but were on the brink of elimination after three straight losses. They won by 45 points at home in Game 6 and famously rallied from a 20-point deficit to win Game 7 in Denver and advance to the Western Conference Finals, where they fell against the Dallas Mavericks.

In 2025, the Nuggets came up just short in the second round against the Thunder, who beat the Wolves in the conference finals and went on to the win the title.

This year's first-round series begins on Saturday, April 18 in Denver. Game 1 is set for 2:30 p.m. central time and will be televised on Prime Video.

The Nuggets went 3-1 against the Wolves in the 2025-26 regular season, although Minnesota won the most recent matchup between the teams on March 1.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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