Reaction To Each Northwest Playoff Team So Far
The first round of the NBA playoffs is underway and the Northwest Division holds serve out West. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves competed for the top spots in the West all year and finished 1, 2, 3 respectively. All three went on to win their first round Game 1โs, albeit it in different ways. Hereโs a look at how each team is doing and their confidence level heading forward in the first round and beyond.
Image via Marca
Oklahoma City THunder
Won Game 1 vs. New Orleans Pelicans 94-92
Confidence Level: 7/10
Entering this series, the Thunder were going to be favored. Not only do they have arguably the best guard in the NBA in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but they are facing a hampered Pelicans squad playing without their best player after Zion Williamson went down in the play-in tournament. However, the Pelicans are built to exploit one of the few weaknesses that the Thunder do have, a lack of rebounding presence in the paint. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 20 rebounds, nine of them coming off the offensive glass. The Pelicans dominated the glass and second-chance points in this game, and yet still fell one CJ McCollum jumper short of winning Game 1. One positive takeaway for the Thunder; they didnโt play their best and still found a way to win the game, which bodes well for them in the rest of the series.
Image via ESPN
Denver Nuggets
Won Game 1 vs. Los Angeles Lakers 114-103
Won Game 2 101-99
Confidence Level: 9.5/10
The Nuggets are the far and away the favorites to repeat and take home another championship. As of the time of this article being written, the Nuggets hold a 2-0 advantage in their first round series against LeBron James and the Lakers. Through their two clashes, one thing is apparent; the Lakers still have no answer for Nikola Jokiฤ. He has dominated in both games, fueling Nuggets comebacks and remains the most unstoppable force in the NBA. It seems like more of the same for the Nuggets, who seem destined for another long playoff run through the Western Conference.
Image via Action Network
Minnesota Timberwolves
Won Game 1 vs. Phoenix Suns 120-95
Confidence Level: 8/10
It seems that Anthony Edwardsโ campaign to become one of the new faces of the NBA wasnโt just a mirage of the regular season. He took that swagger into Game 1 and dueled with Kevin Durant and despite being outgunned by the Slim Reaper, his supporting cast helped him to take the game over and they ran away with it. Before the series began, the largest question was about Karl-Anthony Towns. Who was he going to guard? Would he be able to stay on the court? In Game 1, Towns checked both Kevin Durant and Grayson Allen and was serviceable enough that he was a plus. Moving forward, the Timberwolves know that they are in for a dogfight, but they have the stylistic advantage moving forward.
