(1) Nuggets vs. (8) Timberwolves
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The Western Conference’s first-seeded Denver Nuggets and eighth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves meet in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs. The two teams last met in the playoffs in the 2004 first round.
More Yahoo Sports NBA first-round playoff previews:
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Atlanta Hawks
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Brooklyn Nets
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) New York Knicks
(2) Memphis Grizzlies vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers
(3) Sacramento Kings vs. (6) Golden State Warriors
(4) Phoenix Suns vs. (5) Los Angeles Clippers
How they got here
Denver Nuggets (53-29)
The Nuggets returned Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. from injury, making them whole for the first time since the former tore his left ACL in April 2021. Denver looked like a serious championship contender then, but Nikola Jokic could carry his team no further than the Western Conference semifinals without Murray. He led the Nuggets to 48 wins and flamed out in the first round of the playoffs without his two best teammates.
Flanked by a full roster, including the offseason additions of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (via trade), Bruce Brown (in free agency) and Christian Braun (with the No. 22 overall pick in the draft), and armed with the NBA’s last two regular-season MVP awards, Jokic had the Nuggets in first place on Christmas. Murray and Porter had not even hit their stride, but Aaron Gordon was playing at a borderline All-Star level, and the rest of the rotation made as much sense as any in the league. The team was built to maximize Jokic’s brilliance.
And Jokic delivered. A nine-game winning streak in January and another push to the All-Star break gave the Nuggets a 33-13 record and a cushion over everyone but the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 1 seed. He was averaging a 25-12-10 triple-double on 63/39/82 shooting splits, absurd numbers for a slow-footed center, and remained the odds-on favorite to join Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell as a three-peat MVP.
The MVP…
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