NSL Insider - R1 Preview: Wolves V Nuggetsby Nenjabin, updated on Monday, May 01 2023, 07:37 am EST Itttt�s time! The playoffs are here folks and the excitement
is real! Both conferences ended up coming down to the final few games in the
final week to finalise spots in the play in games, and now they have been run
and won and we are set to go! Sitting in the middle of the playoff bracket, we get to
preview what is likely to be one of the tightest fought series of the 1st
round with the Minnesota Timberwolves playing from the 4th seed, hosting
the 5th seeded Denver Nuggets. It�s going to be a shoot out battle! The Wolves The Wolves are definitely the favourites for this series
with 9 extra wins on the regular season and a line up which you can clearly see
is a successful one, but also with some unknown potential to it given the moves
the Wolves made and how different they look from the start of the year to now.
They obviously will be missing their star LaMelo Ball, but maybe that will be a
blessing in disguise forcing Jimmy Butler into the PG position on Steph Curry? ![]() The Wolves started the season with a vastly different roster
than the one we see presented to us for the playoffs and Ethan was not shy in
shuffling pieces big and small all year. 13 guys suited up for the Wolves this
year who are no longer with them and maybe most fascinatingly, Jimmy Butler is
the top scorer, PER. Assist and steal guy off the whole bunch despite the small
16 game sample size. And he�s still here. Scottie Barnes was their most durable
player, playing and starting in 78 games and the team saw no more than 3 losses
in a row at any given time and that occurred back in week 7 when they had no
size due to injury and the roster was markedly different to the one we see now.
Ethan set about reshaping a roster than had to once again deal with LaMelo
sitting out as he struggled through only 34 games this year and it led to the
team we see before us now with Val starting, Butler starring and size and
defensive nouse the predominant theme. The Wolves come into this playoff series as healthy as they
can hope for, and won�t be expecting anyone coming through to help the cause. LaMelo
is done and Chance Comanche, the last minute signing who averaged 8 rebounds
off the bench in the final week, has run through his 10 day contract. The size
they show at each position though looks like it should be a tough match up for
a Denver team that is built from the outside in, and the 2way potential looks
like it should cause plenty of headaches going bac the other way too. The Nuggets The Nuggets come in as underdogs for this one, naturally,
with a lesser record than the Wolves, but unlike the Wolves we know exactly
what we are going to get from this team as they are remarkably the exact same
roster they began the year with and have played through the entire year with. Coaching
will play a part in how this roster works and if it is enough to make this a
series let alone beat the Wolves, but in terms of personal, Dig has had 20 weeks
of testing, minus weeks of stars out with injury, to get this rolling the way
he wants. ![]() The Nuggets roster is a fine balance between age and youth,
with the edge going to older guys who probably have the game styles that won�t
really be slowed by age. They made their big move in the offseason to bring in
Sabonis and they�ve managed to get him to play more like his NBA self a lot of
the way which has led to averages of 13 points and 16 rebounds, anchoring the
middle which was previously a lot more flimsy relying on Willie Hernangomez and
the corpse of Serge Ibaka. Sabonis has played and started every single game
this year, and funnily enough his partner in crime, Hernangomez, and their
reserve big man Usman Garuba are the only other Nuggets to also play all 82
games. The stability of the big man department is what has allowed them to get
away with no trades all year despite a rather shallow big man department. They�ve
had a year riddled with back to back wins, followed by back to back losses and
a few mini runs like 6 wins in a row in week 9 and 10, before then 6 losses in
a row directly after, and then their largest streak of the year following those
with 8 wins. It�s been patchy, probably in line with what you see of who in the
guard rotation was in and out as Steph played only 56 games, Porter 65, Klay 70
and Trent 66. The important thing now is, they�re all playing. The Nuggets come into this with the best chance they can
have to take the series. They are fully healthy other than Serge Ibaka who has
only managed 28 games this year. In other words, they�ve had plenty of time to
make allowances for that injury and move on without him. Steph and Klay will
keep on shooting and they will live and die by that shooting, and it will be important
to find the right playbook to get them away from the size that the Wolves have
defending those positions. The inside battle looks like it�s going to be a
white wash of sorts and with a defensive scheme that is really not the culture
in Denver, it will come down to a good old fashioned shoot for the stars. The Match-Ups: C Projected: Jonas Valanciunas Vs Willie
Hernangomez For this version of 2k, the big man battle is where the game
is won and lost on so many occasions, and even more so when your team is
reliant on shooting like the Nuggets. If you�re missing, you need to be hitting
those boards. Valanciunas is among the league elite in rebounding. He
started the year in his reserve role, and had to share the boards with Gobert
for a while too, but eventually he became a threat to average 25 rebounds a
game, every single week. His averages of 13 and 18 don�t actually do his dominance
justice and he�s going to impact this series. Willie has been a great find a anchor down low for a couple
of year son no money at all for Denver and 8 points and 11 rebounds is a solid
showing, but it�s not in the Val ball park overall and he�s just going to have
to find a way to slow Val. -
Advantage to the Wolves here, and it could be
series defining. PF Projected: Al Horford Vs Domantas
Sabonis The PF spot has been the forgotten position in 2k this year
as everyone opts to just chuck size there as the engine demands it, rather than
see small ball and skilled and quick guys making this spot their own like in
the past. Whoever�s C hits those boards hardest, wins. Al Horford came across from the 76ers in the Gobert trade
specifically to lodge in next to Val as the starter and he plays the role
perfectly, as he did in Philly next to Steven Adams. The trade has been a
resounding success for both teams in what they hoped and needed for overall
management and Horford started all games he played for the Wolves averaging 9
points, 9 boards and playing steadfast defence and spacing the floor for Val to
work. Sabonis is not the defender that Horford is, but he won�t
necessarily need to be at least in his direct match up here and his strength
comes in the 5 offensive rebounds per game he hauls in. Horford despite being a
strong rebounder overall, might struggle to slow that and the rebound battle
here should help make up for the short fall at the C spot. -
Advantage to the Nuggets here as Sabonis�
rebounding impact will be a key for the Nuggets. SF Projected: Scottie Barnes Vs Michael
Porter Jnr. A lot of the time SF this year has been a position filly by
a sturdy defender allowing the guards to run rampant and the bigs to clean up
the guards duties. But both of these teams have not treated it that way, instead
being able to play guys that are key to the offence. Scottie Barnes was nearly out the door at one stage this
year but it didn�t happen due to technical difficulties and I think the Wolves
will NEVER regret that saving moment. He plays both ends so he has held up the
defensive side, while also dropping 17 points and 6 rebounds and nearly 4
assists per game. He has the ball run through his hands a lot and he leads this
team in a number of ways. Porter missed so much time last year and had to make a mends
for it after signing big cash and looking like he may have died. He�s started
every game at SF this year and averages of 13/6/4 are a nice compliment to the
big two at the guard spots completing the 3 out, 2 in offensive plan for the
Nuggets offence. -
Advantage Wolves? This one is tight and might be
a hinge type match up where if Barnes can stay on top of Porter defensively
while scoring himself against what will undoubtedly be flimsy defence from
Porter, the Wolves get the edge, while Porter catching fire is a game by game
prospect swinging it back the other way. SG Projected: Jae Crowder Vs Klay
Thompson The SG position is where the firepower starts to kick in 2k,
and it�s where we see the bigger wings get moved down a spot to utilise their
size and impact the game even more. We see a mixed spread from these teams in
this regard to the position and it�ll be an interesting one to follow. Jae Crowder finally got over the off court stuff and got
himself onto a court, the 3rd team he was on for the year though! He
hasn�t missed a beat for the Wolves though starting at the 2 for 15/5/4 a night
and adding size to the position and shooting, allowing Barnes to stay up at the
3 unlike so many other wings. He�s not a game changer, but an important role
player for the position with his skillset. Klay has finally come to play for the Nuggets and having a
genuine 6�6/6�7 SG play in that position is one of the rarities these days. He�s
a strong 2 way guy and averaged nearly 20 a night this year, forming the NBA real
life splash pairing with his running mate and he�s going to be an impact guy on
the series that needs to turn it on for a series win. -
Advantage Nuggets, obviously. Star V role player,
as gritty and hard working a role player as Jae is. PG Projected: Jimmy Butler Vs Steph
Curry The PG position is still god in 2k, well, mostly, and being
able to put a big 2 guard down there with handles as PG skills is a god send
after the position down thing got far too crazy and the limitations saw the end
of a lot of the even bigger guys moving down here. This one shows the traditional
PG V the hybrid and it�s a cracker. Jimmy is a new comer to the Wolves after they decided Jrue
was not the guy to lead this position despite it being his actual position. Butler
has played the PG and or Point Forward spot throughout his career, so it�s not
unheard of, but his 6�7 frame at the 1 is a real game changer on both ends. 19/4/5
and 2.3 steals per game as a defensive menace which is the perfect kind of guy to
put onto the enigma which is the small but legendary HOF shooter in Steph. Steph needs no fan fare, we all know him. 26 points per game
again this year with 42% from deep on 747 attempts. In all the who ha we have
about 2k not being NBA like with the 3pt shooting, NSL Steph dropped 26 on
42/42/84 including 747 3pt attempts. NBA Steph dropped 29 on 49/42/91 including
639 3pt attempts. Yeah there�s clearly some differences inside the arc and at
the line, but the 3pt is actually ahead in the NSL, still, and Steph leads that
charge. -
Can we call a stalemate? Or am I possibly a
little crazy suggesting that the advantage might actually be with the Wolves? Steph
is Steph but 2k is 2k and size and defensive skills like Jimmy�s are a buzzkill
to a Steph type and, I might even suggest that this will lead to a lower
scoring series than his regular season? Big call� Bench Projections: Victor Oladipo, Malik Beasley, Jeff
Green, Goran Dragic, Will Barton, Trey Lyles These benches, could they get any more similar? Dipo V Trent
as the 6th man scoring type that all teams need. Extra guard O in
Beasley V Bones. Savvy vet PGs in Dragic V Rubio. No man bigger than a combo forward,
in a Jeff Green V Jalen Johnson battle. They�re running a similar set up and
the benches I think will work very similar and therefore be negligible. Keys to Victory: Wolves Nuggets Head to Head Prediction: This one is going to be a great series and I expect it to go
back and forth and down to the wire, possibly on the home court advantages. The
size and defensive structure of the Wolves is going to be an issue for the
Nuggets, but you can�t keep HOF shooters down all the time and that�s why I
think the series goes the distance. However, the Wolves size and inside
rebounding will be the difference. Wolves to move on,
4-3. |
Archive· R1 Preview: Washington V Charlotte · R1 Preview: San Antonio V Houston · R1 Preview: Milwaukee V Philly · R1 Preview: Portland V Phoenix · R1 Preview: Wolves V Nuggets · Premium: League Leaders Breakdown |