Timberwolves-Nuggets Game 2: Referees, Announcers, Keys to an Upset

The Timberwolves are looking to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole on Monday night in Denver. The old adage is that a series doesn't truly start until someone loses at home, but needing to win four of the final five games against the Nuggets would be a tricky proposition for Minnesota.

Here's everything you need to know about Game 2 of this first-round series.

Start time, TV channel, and announcers

Wolves-Nuggets is set for a 9:30 p.m. central time start on Monday. It'll be televised on NBC and Peacock as the second half of a doubleheader after Knicks-Hawks, which begins at 7. Realistically, that means the game won't start until at least 9:40, if not later. It's going to be a late night for folks in the central and (especially) eastern time zones planning on staying up to watch.

A treat for Wolves fans staying up late is that Michael Grady will be on the call for this one. Grady is the former Timberwolves play-by-play announcer on FanDuel Sports Network who still mixes in some Minnesota games when his busy national schedule (NBC/Peacock, Prime Video) allows. Calling the action alongside Grady will be a couple retired NBA veterans: Former Timberwolves guard Austin Rivers (2022-23) and the White Mamba, Brian Scalabrine.

Referees

Officiating was a topic of conversation, to say the least, during and after Game 1 on Saturday. An early "landing space" flagrant foul on Jaden McDaniels was a controversial one, and Chris Finch generally wasn't pleased with Jamal Murray shooting three fewer free throws than the Wolves did as a team. That crew was led by referee Zach Zarba.

The Game 2 crew will be fronted by veteran official Tony Brothers, whose crew called 51 fouls and two technicals in Game 1 of Cavaliers-Raptors on Saturday (Wolves-Nuggets had 42 fouls and four techs). That was on the high side for Brothers, whose crews averaged 39.3 foul calls during the regular season. Brothers will be joined by Mitchell Ervin and Gediminas Petraitis on Monday.

Injuries

For the second straight game, Anthony Edwards was listed as questionable due to his right knee injury maintenance. There's essentially a zero percent chance Edwards doesn't play, but it's clear that he's not quite at 100 percent right now. How effective he's able to be despite that limitation will go a long way in determining if the Wolves have a chance to win this series.

It'll also be interesting to see how much Naz Reid plays tonight. Reid, who has been playing through a minor shoulder injury for a while, only saw 17 minutes in Game 1 after averaging 26 in the regular season.

The Nuggets will be without 3-and-D wing Peyton Watson for the second straight game.

Keys to a Wolves upset

The glass-half-full way to view Game 1 from a Timberwolves perspective is that none of their top three offensive players (Edwards, Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels) shot the ball very well, they got almost nothing from Reid, and they still found themselves down just five points in the final minutes.

The glass-half-empty way to view it is that the Wolves defended Nikola Jokic reasonably well, Murray was 0 for 8 from three, the Nuggets collectively went 1 for 17 from three in the second half, and Denver still managed to win the game.

Several things will have to happen for Minnesota to win Game 2 as 7.5-point underdogs. Rudy Gobert has to play another strong two-way game and continue to make life somewhat difficult on Jokic. The Wolves have to defend with more urgency off of the ball and give up fewer open looks from three. And offensively, they simply need their star players to hit shots at a higher clip. Edwards, Randle, and McDaniels will have to be more efficient in their scoring for the Wolves to keep pace.

Taking care of the ball and limiting self-inflicted wounds will also be critical for the Timberwolves. The same can be said for keeping Denver off of the offensive glass.

It'll be interesting to see how Finch manages his bench rotations after barely playing Bones Hyland at all in Game 1 and using Mike Conley for 11 minutes.

The Wolves have to come out with plenty of desperation and urgency in this one as they try to avoid dropping both games in Denver to begin the series.

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