Heading into the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Minnesota Timberwolves had made easy work of Kevin Durant’s Phoenix Suns by pulling off the sweep and proving to everyone that Anthony Edwards and company had officially arrived.
Although the Timberwolves put on a show in the first round against a team that was expected to make a deep run in the playoffs, Minnesota faces a juggernaut in the second round, taking on Nikola Jokic and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
Despite being the underdog in Game 1 of this series in Denver, the Timberwolves came out on top, putting pressure on the defending champions heading into Game 2 at Ball Arena.
With the Timberwolves getting an impressive win over the Nuggets in Game 1, Kendrick Perkins of ESPN is convinced that Minnesota is going to the NBA Finals, via NBA on ESPN.
“The Wolves are going to the NBA Finals,” Perkins said. “They weren’t just built to knock off the defending champions, they were built to win the Western Conference.”
Even though the Timberwolves proved they can go toe-to-toe with the defending champions, it might be a little too early to dub them the team to beat in the Western Conference moving forward.
However, if Edwards and his squad can get another win in Denver before the series shifts to Minnesota, the narrative will change quickly with the Timberwolves being a scary team as the playoffs progress and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they can get to the Finals.
