Tag Archives: Timberwolves

Nuggets show championship mettle, taking back homecourt advantage

Posted on by

It kind of felt like they were on the ropes, didn’t it?

The Denver Nuggets opened their postseason by beating the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was at least effective.

Next up, was the team that gave them more trouble than anyone on their way to the title.

The Nuggets beat the Wolves in five games last year, but every single game felt like a dogfight. Anthony Edwards is an absolute monster, and the length of big men Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony-Towns provide some serious matchup problems.

Minnesota opened the series by punching the champs in the mouth in Game 1 and beating Denver at home 106-99.

Proving it wasn’t a fluke, the Timberwolves whooped the Nuggets on the road again in Game 2, routing them 106-80.

Not only were the Wolves going to beat the Nuggets, they were going to sweep them.

Not so fast.

You have to beat the champs.

And the Nuggets proved exactly that on Friday night in Game 3.

Denver went into hostile territory and smoked the Timberwolves 117-90. It didn’t actually even feel that close.

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each scored 24 points and Michael Porter Jr. added 21 points and the Nuggets ran away with an easy win.

Okay, so that was just an off game. Minnesota would bring their “A” game for Game 4.

And they did…at times.

Minnesota shot 48% from the field, while out rebounding Denver 42-31.

They also had lapses.

Their end of the first half sloppiness allowed the Nuggets to close the second quarter with an 8-0 run for the ages, as Jamal Murray splashed a three pointer at the buzzer, from beyond halfcourt.

Those eight points proved to be pretty big, as the Nuggets won Game 4 by an ironic score of 115-107 to even the series, and take back home court advantage.

Now we have a three game series.

So what has changed? How have the Nuggets turned things around?

For starters, their stars have stepped up. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 73 points in Games 1 and 2, but they shot just 35% from the field.

Compare that to Games 3 and 4 where Jokic and Murray scored 102 points at a much more efficient rate of 53%.

The bench has also stepped up their game. They managed to score just 38 points in Games 1 and 2, but have now responded with 50 points as a unit in Games 3 and 4.

This series is far from over, but the Nuggets are proving that they have the heart of a champion.

Game 5 is in Denver tonight, and teams that win Game 5 of a 2-2 best-of-seven series go on to win the series 82.8% of the time (164-34).

These Nuggets have already proven that they will not go quietly.

Daly Dose 07-06-22 NBA free agency and the Pac 12 gets worse!

Posted on by

This week on the Daly Dose YouTube video, we look at NBA free agency and some of the biggest moves taking place there. Plus, college sports are changing as USC and UCLA announce they will leave the Pac 12 for the Big 10! What could be coming next?

Daly Doses 05-24-22: Thoughts, reflections, and derision from the Mile High City

Posted on by

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs have not been the friend of the Colorado Avalanche.

The last three seasons have seen the Avs make the postseason, and even win their opening series.

And then the bottom fell out.

In 2019, it was the San Jose Sharks in seven games.

In 2020, the Avalanche were beaten by the Dallas Stars, also in seven games.

And just last year, the Avs were beaten by Vegas Golden Knights in six games.

This year, after dispatching the Nashville Predators in a sweep, the Avalanche began their current series with the St Louis Blues.

And from the beginning, you could tell it would be a grind.

Sure they won Game 1, but it was a 4-3 overtime nail-biter that took everything in the Avs arsenal to get the win.

But if Game 1 provided some butterflies in your stomach, Game 2 was a full blown dry heave as the Blues dominated the Avs 4-1.

Game 3 on Saturday began in a similar fashion with the Blues grabbing an early goal.

And then Nazem Kadri happened.

Kadri is one of those player that you hate if he is on the other team. He pushes the limits, he will do anything he can to try to win.

Late in the first period of Game 3 Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen collided into goalie Jordan Binnington after getting their skates tangled up in the crease. No penalty was called on the play, but Binnington was ruled out for the rest of the series with a lower body injury.

The Avs went on to a 5-2 victory.

Last night in Game 4 Kadri struck again. And then again. And then again.

With the city of St. Louis booing him every time he touched the puck, and St. Louis law enforcement investigating threats made against him, Kadri dropped a hat trick on the Blues.

Kadri scored three goals and had an assist, as the Avs rolled to a 6-3 win, and put themselves one win away from getting past that dreaded second round.

Unfortunately, it isn’t all good news in the Mile High city.

The Colorado Rockies have found their true form.

After getting out to their usual hot start at 8-3, the Rox have now gone 11-19 in their last 30 games.

The starting pitching is a major problem, and the bullpen will undoubtedly be wearing down soon too.

It isn’t just the bad news coming out of Coors Field.

Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has agreed to a five-year deal worth over $40 million bucks with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Connelly is widely regarded as one of the top talent evaluators in the league, and has done a phenomonal job of assembling talent on the Nuggets roster.

Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr, Aaron Gordon, Monte Morris, and Bones Hyland have all been brought to Denver by Connelly.

Back in 2013, the Nuggets brought Connelly to Denver to replace former NBA Executive of the Year, Masai Ujirim who left for Toronto.

As good as the Nuggets are, this is unfortunately just another reminder that this franchise is a stepping stone, not a destination.

Daly Dose 04-14-21 Our 2021 Daly Dose college basketball awards

Posted on by

This week on the Daly Dose, we wish a happy birthday to both Pete Rose and Greg Maddux, and don’t forget that tomorrow is Tax Day!

The Masters is back and we loved it, Bill Belichick is still doing things the “Patriot way”, Arizona finally fired Sean Miller for a very specific reason, and new ownership for the Minnesota Timberwolves could be bad news for Minnesota! Plus, the Denver Nuggets title aspirations took a crushing blow this week. 

Then, we hand out our 2021 Daly Dose College Basketball awards! We hand out season end awards to the Player of the Year, the Coach of the Year, and we look back at the best game of the 2021 NCAA Tournament! 

We also hand out the George Mason award, the Arizona award, the Mark Madsen award, the Anderson Hunt award, and the always popular Kardashian award!

Finally, the Final Four this season provided one of the best games in tournament history between Gonzaga and UCLA. However, we then saw the National Championship game turn out to be far less exciting. Today, our Daly Dose Top 5 counts down the Top 5 other times in NCAA Tournament history that the Final Four proved to be way more compelling than the actual championship game.