The Nuggets survived, and all the history books will say is a Gentleman's Sweep: The Denver Nuggets advance, 4-1, over the Los Angeles Lakers. Ho-hum, another easy first-round series.
That is not what happened.
While there will be many excuses and flowers given for the Lakers losing another "closest sweep ever," L.A. needs to reckon with its complete inability to hold leads against Denver. And despite the fact the Nuggets have won 12 of the last 13 games against the Purple and Gold, the Nuggets have bigger problems.
Styles make fights and series, and each series is its own microcosm. But the Nuggets dominated the results without dominating on the floor.
They trailed for most of this series. They were sloppy and inconsistent. They shot 30.8% from 3 for the series, with the seventh-best offense and eighth-best defense of any playoff team so far. They gave up more points in the paint, more points off turnovers and more fastbreak points than they scored.
They needed two buzzer-beaters from Jamal Murray to put away the seventh seed in the West — a play-in team.
A Gentleman's Sweep is a Gentleman's Sweep. The Lakers should take no comfort. Neither should the Nuggets. A sign of relief should be all they draw because a storm is coming, and it brings Anthony Edwards and the best defense in the NBA.
The Western Conference second-round series between the Nuggets and Timberwolves isn't a classic matchup of marquee franchises. It brings one title between the two teams in their entire history. But it does shape up as one of the best basketball series fans could hope for.
The defending champions vs. the team trying to usurp them. The No.1 defense vs. the No.1 offensive player and soon-to-be-three-time MVP. Size and smarts, shooting and physicality.
That's if both teams are at their best. The Wolves have looked it. They took down the Suns, a higher seed with a better record, in four games. They wasted no time. They stepped on the heart on Sunday.
Denver only needed one more game, but every game was in doubt against L.A. None were in doubt by the late fourth for Minnesota.
The Nuggets took a matchup they were heavily favored in and got out of it. Not barely, with a lot of breathing room, but not unscathed, either.
The Wolves took a series they were underdogs in and smashed it to smithereens.
Things start over on Saturday, 0-0, but the Nuggets are also in a much different spot than they were last season. They cruised to the 1-seed and had weeks to rest up. They pushed to the end for seeding only to end up with the 2-seed this year. (By the way, that 1-seed — the pesky young pups in OKC — isn't exactly struggling either.)
They are banged up. Murray almost missed Game 5 due to a calf strain that he likely aggravated by playing (and dominating the fourth quarter). Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tweaked his ankle. The Nuggets are not fresh and just played an extremely physical first-round series.
The Wolves barely felt the Suns as they ran through their chests.
This matchup has history; the Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets from playoff contention in the last game of the season back in 2018. A lot has happened since then, from the Jimmy Butler fiasco to the Bubble 3-1 comebacks to the Edwards draft to the Murray injury to the Nuggets' title to the Rudy Gobert trade and the Wolves' ownership fiasco.
Tim Connelly built these Nuggets. He drafted Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray and built around them. He traded for Aaron Gordon. He never wanted to leave Denver.
Then he helped reshape the Wolves. He traded for Gobert and, just as importantly, moved D'Angelo Russell for Mike Conley and added Kyle Anderson.
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch was an assistant under Michael Malone for a season. Nuggets assistant coach Ryan Saunders is the former head coach of the Timberwolves.
There's history.
This series could be epic. But the Nuggets have to be ready for it, and they were not ready for the first round. The results will say they were, but they clutch-merchanted their way to a five-game series win.
The Wolves, for all their offensive struggles, will not be so easy to roll through.
Minnesota opened at +200 or better on the series price and immediately took money. As of writing, there are +175s in the market, and they are dropping.
The Wolves will get bet and bet based on the Nuggets' performances vs. the Lakers. But Denver also played the first round like a team that didn't feel it needed to give more than it did to beat the Lakers.
This part needs to be stressed: The Nuggets do not feel that way about the Wolves. They respect Minnesota and know how they match up. They beat the Wolves in the last five playoffs, with Karl-Anthony Towns barely back from injury and Minnesota without Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. However, the Nuggets would tell you it was their toughest matchup.
They will take this one extremely seriously.
That said, if they can't hit shots, Minnesota will drag this game where it wants it. The Wolves have the scheme and personnel to flummox the Nuggets' lethal two-man game with Jokic and Murray.
They have the size to control the glass, a key Denver battleground. They have shooters, they have wings, they have steady point guard play, they have bigs for days, and they have Edwards — a player Denver has not found a solution for in their matchups this season.
The Nuggets weren't lucky to beat the Lakers. But they weren't their best, either. They had better find that version of themselves between now and Saturday.
LeBron is a legend. The Wolves are ready to make their own.
