Apr 14, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) with the ball during the second half against the Portland Trailblazers at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 118-109. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

In this small-ball series the Warriors have a golden opportunity to steal game 1 in Denver as the Nuggets are waiting on starting power forward Kenneth Faried to return from a sprained ankle sustained Sunday against Portland. Without Faried, the Nuggest went small against the Bucks and Suns with Wilson Chandler in his stead and Anthony Randolph picking up some power forward minutes off the bench. The Nuggets expect Faried to return by game 2, so the Warriors’ opportunity is there on Saturday.

Nuggets probable starting lineup:

PG Ty Lawson

SG Evan Fournier

SF Andre Iguodala

PF Wilson Chandler

C Kosta Koufus

Besides the Faried ankle injury, the Nuggets have lost Danilo Gallinari to a torn ACL on April 4th and only welcomed starting point guard Lawson back to the lineup a week ago from a partial tear in his right plantar fascia.

The depth of the Nuggets will be on display as they hope to continue the roll that has seen them lose only 4 games since February 14th.

Warriors probable starting lineup:

PG Stephen Curry

SG Klay Thompson

SF Harrison Barnes

PF David Lee

C Andrew Bogut

The battle of former and would-be Wolves lottery picks, Curry and Lawson will be the marquee matchup. Curry is fresh off setting the single-season 3 pointers made record while Lawson is fresh off a foot injury. Whether Iggy ends up defending Thompson or Barnes could set up interesting cross-matchups. Bogut and Koufus should wrestle down low while Lee will be free to do as much damage as he can until Faried returns.

The benches will play a huge role in this series as Jarrett Jack shouldn’t get many opportunities to punk Andre Miller, as both coaches use their backup point guards to free their starters as big-time scorers in the clutch. Should JaVale McGee have his head screwed on right, there are major opportunities for him to do damage against the Warriors’ paper thin frontcourt.

Bogut has been on the floor just under 25 minutes in 32 games this year; but as long as he is, he provides the defense, toughness and size the Warriors need. The problem is, Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green are his backups should the Nuggest slash their way into the paint and get the Golden State bigs in foul trouble. Also, Carl Landry shouldn’t do the Nuggets like he does the Wolves.

Prediction: Denver in 6.

Mar 7, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets small forward Kenneth Faried (35) reacts after a play in the fourth quarter at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 102-97. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes, in basketball, as well as in life, things turn out exactly as they should; exactly how one might expect them to be. Other than a couple of blips on the radar, such as the Chris Johnson/Mickael Gelabale –fueled blowout victory over Houston, the Timberwolves have performed about how we all thought they would after Kevin Love re-broke his right hand, providing the knockout blow in a season-long pummeling of injuries.

Saturday night in Denver was par for the course for the Wolves, as they stayed close for much of the game before being run off the court late in the third and throughout the fourth quarter. Assuredly, the Mile High City and its thin air had something to do with the Wolves sharp nosedive late in the contest. Realistically, however, this was just one stop in a season that has felt like the whole thing is being played in thin air, despite the abundance of valleys and very few mountaintops that Wolves’ players and fans have seen in the 2012-13 season.

The game remained competitive early, as the Wolves’ defense was largely solid in making the Nuggets work for open shots. Denver turned the ball over five times in the opening frame, partly due to the Timberwolves’ strong defensive rotations and partly due to the sloppiness of the home team. The Wolves and Ricky Rubio in particular were active on offense, but continued their season-long trend of missing open jump-shots. Due to their passable defense, however, they managed to only trail 27-24 at the end of the first quarter.

J.J. Barea turned in a few  very good minutes to open the second quarter, but was essentially cancelled out by the ageless Andre Miller, who showcased a series of offensive moves and defensive savvy that many of us were not sure he was capable of at this stage in his career. After Denver held a 48-41 lead with 1:30 remaining, Minnesota went on an 8-0 run to take the lead before Ty Lawson hit a pair of free throws with a second left on the clock to give the Nuggets a 50-49 halftime advantage.

The third quarter started promisingly enough for the visitors, with the offense humming along. Derrick Williams actually caught the ball at the top of the key and swung it to an open shooter on the weak side, so that was a positive. Soon after, however, things hurtled downhill rather quickly for the Wolves. Luke Ridnour continued to miss open shots, the most painful of which are always the open corner three-pointers that Ridnour is usually so proficient at shooting. (Luke is 32 for 85 from the corners this season, good for just 37.65%. Not to mention his season long-range shooting is down to 31%, which would be the second-worst in his career, next to his final season in Seattle back in 2007-08.)

The Wolves entered the fourth quarter trailing 83-70, and things continued in their downward spiral. The visitors ran out a three-guard lineup with Dante Cunningham and Chris Johnson in the front court. Not exactly the best rebounding lineup, especially when Denver countered with Kenneth Faried. Minnesota managed to get the lead down to nine points with under ten minutes to play, but a couple more missed shots led to some easy buckets for the Nuggets, and the route was on. Denver eventually finally put the Wolves out of their misery, winning by the final score of 111-88.

A few thoughts….

- Ty Lawson is really, really good. He finished the game with 32 points on 12 of 17 shooting, including 4 of 4 from deep and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. He did have 4 turnovers and just 3 assists in 34 minutes, but overall, it was a good night for the speedy point guard. Nearly all of Lawson’s long range attempts were courtesy of crushing down screens set by the Nuggets big men, and the Wolves point guards failed to get around the picks and adequately contest the shots. Physicality has been an issue and remains a huge question mark for the Wolves in general, but especially guys like Rubio and Alexey Shved.

- Nobody on the Wolves came away with a noteworthy game, save for Mickael Gelabale.  His line of 19 points (8 of 10 shooting, 2 of 2 from long range and 1 of 1 FTs), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and zero turnovers in 31 minutes was the lone bright spot for the Wolves, and probably Gelabale’s best all-around game for the Wolves.

- As mentioned, Ridnour was underwhelming, finishing the game 2 of 7 from the field, including 0 for 4 from three-point range. Rubio played okay, but somehow avoided making a steal after having the most steals of any player over a ten game span in the past eleven years. He did score 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting in addition to 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

- Derrick Williams had a couple of nice, patient moves in the post and in the paint that he has not shown enough of in his young career, but his line (4 of 14 FGs, 5 of 9 FTs) was pretty ugly.

- The Wolves actually showed decent fight in this game, and played passable defense throughout the tilt. As expected, the main issue was in transition, where the Nuggets ran the Timberwolves to death. The Wolves bigs are simply not adept at running back on defense, and Ridnour, Shved, and Barea have proven to be quite poor in playing transition defense themselves. Of the nine players at coach Rick Adelman’s disposal, only Rubio, Gelabale, and Cunningham  have consistently been solid defenders in fast break situations.

- The Wolves will be back at Target Center in Minneapolis to take on the Dallas Mavericks at 6:00 CST on Sunday evening.