NSL Playoff Reviews: 22/05/2023
Minnesota V Denver
The Timberwolves and Nuggets series, the 4th
and 5th seeds of the West, was always billed to be a cracker and it
lived up to it. The series went to 6 with tight games, changes a plenty,
massive individual numbers and an eventual underdog claiming a series victory
against the 2-1 votes for the Wolves. Even the series stats show just how close
this series was despite the 4-2 victory with the teams scoring exactly the same
points per game with Denver actually averaging more turnovers (-1.6), less
steals (-1.3), less blocks (-0.2), less assists (-1), shooting it worse at
40/33/77 to 42/35/78, but winning the rebound battles +4 and +2.8 on the offensive
side. It doesn�t get much more even than that. Here�s how it played out.
Game 1 and the teams made some changes from
what was reported as expected, right from the get go. The Nuggets switched up
their big men, putting Sabonis at the 5 to match up with big Jonas, which might
have been a curious move in part, but did shift Sabonis away from the defensive
minded Horford. The Wolves went with Victor Oladipo starting at the 2 against
Klay Thompson instead of the projected Jae Crowder to give more ball handling
help to Jimmy. Line ups: Sabonis/Hernangomez/Porter Jnr./Thompson/Curry V
Valanciunas/Horford/Barnes/Oladipo/Butler.
Well the Nuggets never missed a beat in
game 1. Jimmy Butler�s projected �Curry stopper� role never eventuated as the
Nuggets won every quarter on their way to a 24 point demolition in Minnesota.
They lead by 7, then 9, then 11 and finally 24 as Steph led all scorers with 23
points. He took 25 shots to get there, but the entire team shot it 36%. Sabonis
and Hernangomez had 22 rebounds a piece while Valanciunas had his 22 rebounds
but no one else on the team had more than 6. The rebounds were +18, +10 offensively
and the big story was Jimmy Butler only scoring 2 points on 1-5 shooting. The
Wolves were left reeling and needing to make some changes immediately to wake
Jimmy up. Denver lead 1-0.
Game 2 and the Wolves changes came thick and
fast, immediately, as you might expect. The Nuggets brought out the same line
up as Game 1, which you would expect after it working so well, but the Wolves
instantly switched up Horford and Valanciunas to match up Horford to Sabonis as
they wanted, and Val with Hernangomez which was less of an issue with his lesser
defence. They also shifted Butler to SF to take advantage of the lack of
defence of Michael Porter, shifting Scottie Barnes to the 2 and Oladipo to the
PG slot to keep up with Curry. Line ups: Sabonis/Hernangomez/Porter
Jnr./Thompson/Curry V Horford/Valaciunas/Butler/Barnes/Oladipo.
The big difference from Game 1 to Game 2 was that Jimmy Butler got more
involved here, taking 17 shots and hitting 22 points, but the result ended up
being the same as Game 1. The Nuggets lead by 2 after one, then 6, then 9 which
was enough when they lost their first quarter of the series, but by only 1
point to take Game 2 by 8 points, and an unexpected 2-0 lead on Minnesota�s
home court. Steph was again the offensive instigator as you�d expect, taking 30
shots to equally lead all scorers with Scottie Barnes, each with 28 points. The
rebounds remained a +10 despite the pairing that went for 44 in Game 1, having �only�
20 combined here, but they had 3 guys in double figures for reb0unds. The
Wolves looked more lively overall, and Val lead the rebounding with 15, but the
team still was outmatched. Denver lead 2-0.
Game 3 headed back to Denver and the Nuggets
again stuck with what was working. If it ain�t broke�right? The Wolves were
obviously unhappy with the way things were going, as they should be, and
decided to again switch it up. Oladipo headed to the bench for Jae Crowder
which was more like what was predicted prior to the series, but Crowder lined
up at SF on Michael Porter, rather than covering Klay and letting Barnes go at
Porter�s limitations. Jimmy headed back to a stopper role at PG. Line ups: Sabonis/Hernangomez/Porter
Jnr./Thompson/Curry V Horford/Valanciunas/Crowder/Barnes/Butler.
Game 3 at least went differently throughout the game as both teams showed runs
to put themselves in a place to win, but it was again the Nuggets finishing
fast to get the victory. Denver lead by 5 after one, but only 4 at the half,
before Minny flipped the script in the 3rd to lead by 9 at � time,
only to be ran over by the Nuggets in the 4th 35-19 and lose by 7.
The Wolves used a 9 man rotation in this one and had seemingly nearly everything
go well with all 5 starters in double3 figure scoring, and Hardy with double
figures off the bench too. Their bigs were the better rebounders with 14 and 17
versus 15 and 11, they had more blocked shots and steals, less turnovers and
missed only 3 FTs for the game, but the Nuggets found a way. Curry also was
finally stifled with 15 points on 21 shots, but Klay stepped up to lead all
scorers with 26 as Gary Trent had 19 off the bench and the Nuggets had 5 players
in double figures also. They still won the rebounding +2 and had 9 more assists
as the difference came down directly to making shots shooting 47% from the
field and 39% from deep versus 43% and 26%. Denver now have a 3-0 stranglehold
on the series.
Game 4, win or go home for the Wolves, and
they finally switched the line up to what was originally projected as their
best line up shifting Crowder down to the 2 and Barnes back up to the 3, with
Dipo off the bench. Valanciunas moved back to his more preferred C spot with Al
back at the 4 spacing the floor. The Nuggets sitting pretty, held tight yet
again. Why not? Line ups: Sabonis/Hernangomez/Porter Jnr./Thompson/Curry V Valanciunas/Horford/Barnes/Crowder/Butler.
The Wolves clicked almost immediately in this one it seemed. Jimmy and the team
did not want to go home. Butler came out with 16 1st quarter points,
a massive swing from the previous games and the man finished with a POG worthy
42 points on 16/21 shooting with 8 assists and 3 steals to boot. Everything
finally clicked for the Wolves as they won the rebounding +9, assists +13 and
made 53% from the field and 45% from deep. Despite this, the game was still in
the balance at � times as they lead by only 4 points after a seesaw scoreline
through 3 quarters, but they got on Jimmy�s back as he went for 15 4th
quarter points to lead them to a 36-10 quarter and finally striking a blow in
the series by 30 points. Denver still lead, 3-1.
Game 5 and we�re back in Minnesota. Game 4 was
the big swing game, so it�s natural that you won�t necessarily see too much
movement in this one. Minnesota loved what they saw, so stuck with the same
line up, while Denver still has littler reason to be too concerned just yet
with a 3-1 lead, so they held firm to what had worked for all but 1 quarter
through 4 games. Line ups: Same as Game 4.
Both teams line up the same as the previous game, and we see Jimmy Butler again
stay hot coming out with 9 in the quarter, but it�s the Nuggets that take the
early 4 point lead after one. It changes quickly though in the 2nd
quarter, as the Wolves went for 33 to 16 and completely flipped the game to
lead by 13 at the half, the first time they had had such a lead all series. Oladipo
had 10 points off the bench in the first half and Jimmy Butler had 15 but 3 fouls
as nothing seemed to be going right for Denver. The 3rd quarter was
a relative stalemate as the Nuggets won it by 2 points to be down 11 but the
last quarter went back to the Wolves and they ran out 16 point victors. Butler
lead all scorers with 29 and had 4 steals, again shooting it fantastically with
13-19, while Steph lead the Nuggets with 21 points. The Nugs still controlled
the inside mostly with their starting bigs combining for 27 rebounds, but Val�s
22 by himself nearly stole that show. The rebounding was +4 to Minny but -5 on
turnovers also, giving more shots overall. The series now is a 3-2 Denver lead.
Game 6 and the time is now for Denver. You don�t
want to be going to a game 7 after leading 3-0, what coaching do you change in
that case? In this one, there was only one change and it was immediately hailed
as a game changer by the Wolves gm when he saw it. The Nuggets switched Steph Curry
to the two and Klay Thompson to the one in the hopes that Klay would slow
Jimmy, while Steph could unleash a little at the 2 for some catch and shoot
opportunities rather than dribble up shots. Line ups: Sabonis/Hernangomez/Porter
Jnr./Curry/Thompson V Valanciunas/Horford/Barnes/Crowder/Butler.
Well, this one was a classic rollercoaster in every sense of the word, unlike
anything we had seen through the first 5 games really. The Wolves came out
scorching going for 40 in the 1st to lead by 18. Doing everything
right to try and push a game 7. Most of the points came from unlikely sources
too, with Jae Crowder hitting 11 and Trey Lyles dropping all of his 11 points
off the bench in the 1st. Valanciunas only had 2 points and 2 boards
in that 1st quarter explosion, too, despite finishing the game with
a team leading 28 points and 24 rebounds. The 2nd quarter saw the
Nuggets hit back a bit though, not giving up, taking the quarter by 6 scoring
35 to 29, narrowing the halftime lead to 12. Curry and Klay who each had only 3
points in the 1st quarter, started to get hot as Klay went into halftime
with 19 and Curry with 14 and they were poised. The 2rd quarter was a Denver
demolition as they came out full force to win the quarter by 20, and lead by 8
at � time and now the Wolves were on the ropes. The last quarter was a dog
fight which saw the Wolves only get 1 point back on them, and the Nuggets took
the game by 7, and the series with that. Curry lead all scorers with 36 and had
easily his best shooting game of the series shooting 50% and 7-16 from deep.
Klay locked up Butler for 4 points total, while scoring 29 himself on 9-15
shooting, as the Denver stars really showed out in this one. Sabonis has 22
rebounds to help give a +7 on the game, despite the +5 on turnovers and the
series was done. Denver win 4-2.
Congratulations Denver Nuggets prevailing in a
tightly fought series. They win the chance to face the reigning champs as the
Wolves go home with the tails between their legs licking their wounds. Ethan
had an amazing season and deserves a lot of congratulations and is bitterly
disappointed at the result, immediately dropping Oladipo before he has a chance
to pick up his Player Option, and already looking to moves for next year.
Good luck Digga in the 2nd round!
- NSL Insider News.