Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets: Odds, injuries, what to watch for

The Minnesota Timberwolves will look to keep the good vibes going as they take on the Denver Nuggets at Target Center on Saturday night.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets: Odds, injuries, what to watch for

The Wolves are coming off an impressive, wire-to-wire road win over the defending-champion Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. They’re 3-1 on the season and have had a pair of fantastic performances against the Houston Rockets and Bucks sandwiched around two lackluster offensive showings against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Nuggets have had something of a roller-coaster start to the season, winning their first two games before losing at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers and seeing Nikola Jokic go down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury during a loss to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.

But Denver received the fantastic news that Jokic’s injury was not severe, and after a pair of off days, the reigning MVP was listed as questionable for Friday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Jokic ultimately played, and the Nuggets ran away with it, ultimately winning by 31 and improving their record to 3-2.

Minnesota Timberwolves odds vs. Denver Nuggets

Interestingly, the Wolves are favored to win by two points over at WynnBet. This is a result of home-court advantage and the impressive road win over Milwaukee earlier this week, plus two days of rest with the Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back set.

Still, to have the Wolves favored over a full-strength (albeit without Jamal Murray) squad that won 47 games last year and went to the conference finals the year before is something of a surprise.

TV and streaming info for Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets

• Tip-off: 8:00 CT
• Television: Bally Sports North
• Radio: 830 WCCO
• Stream: Fubo.tv offers streaming options

What to watch for in Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets

There’s no question that the headliner in this game is Karl-Anthony Towns vs. Jokic.

Last year, Towns missed the first two match-ups against the Nuggets due to a wrist injury. The Wolves started Ed Davis at center and still managed to be competitive in one of the consecutive games that the two teams played.

Late in the year, the Wolves and Nuggets played at Target Center. This was post-Murray’s season-ending injury, and the Wolves were at virutally full-strength, missing only former Nugget Malik Beasley from their starting lineup.

Towns put up 20 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists, knocking down four of his seven 3-point attempts. Jokic got the better of him, posting 31 points on 14-of-21 shooting and pulling down 14 rebounds.

New acquisition Aaron Gordon scored 15 points on 10 shots to play the secondary scoring role for the Nuggets.

The Wolves have to expect that Jokic will get his points and assists in this game. The key is for Towns to stay out of foul trouble and the Wolves to utilize Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaden McDaniels in pick-and-roll coverage to help contain Jokic and take away easy passing angles.

After not playing Wednesday’s win over the Bucks, expect Josh Okogie to see time guarding Will Barton in this game. Michael Porter, Jr. is the other starter to keep an eye on.

If Towns can stay out of foul trouble and the Wolves can keep at least two from the group of Gordon, Barton, and Porter from having a big game, they should have a strong chance to win this one at home.

Injury report for Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets

The Wolves have listed two-way guard McKinley Wright IV as out due to his ongoing assignment with the G League’s Iowa Wolves.

The Nuggets are healthy beyond Jokic’s knee injury from earlier this week that he’s playing through, and the continued absence of Murray, who may come back late in the season.

We’ll be back after the game with some key takeaways. Enjoy the game, and here’s to 4-1!