The 2024 Western Conference Semifinals was a strange series. Not because of the play on the court, as it was a series that went back and forth and kept everyone engaged throughout.
It was odd because whether the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Denver Nuggets were on their home floor, it didn’t seem to help them all that much. Only twice in the 7 games during the series did the home team win (the first four games saw the road team gain victory).
With the two teams again squaring up in the opening round of the 2026 playoffs, the Timberwolves should look to their past history as to why they can get the job done in the first two games on the road.
Minnesota won three games in Denver in the 2024 playoffs
With Denver the second seed in the West in the 2024 playoffs and the Wolves third, the first two contests in the Western Conference semifinals took place at Ball Arena. Game 2 wasn’t even competitive as Minnesota won by 26, the same amount of points they were up by at halftime. The Timberwolves took a surprising 2-0 series lead.
The Nuggets finally won one at home in the series in Game 5 to go up 3-2 (after they beat the Timberwolves twice in the Target Center). Minnesota finally won a home outing in the series in Game 6, allowing there to be a Game 7, which would take place in Denver.
With Minnesota down 20 early in the third quarter, it would have been easy for them to just be happy that they took the defending champions to seven games. Instead, they outscored the Nuggets 60-32 the rest of the way to pull off the shocking comeback.
While the Nuggets won the first three meetings in this year’s regular season matchup, the Timberwolves took the last one, which also came in Denver.Â
You always hear how difficult it is to play on the road in Denver due to the elevated altitude. While that’s true, the Timberwolves should use their 2024 playoff series and most recent game against the Nuggets as evidence they can get the job done.Â
Still, despite all this, very few are picking the Wolves to advance to the second round. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Nuggets as 6.5-point favorites in Game 1 and give Denver -350 odds to get past the Timberwolves in the series.
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