The Denver Nuggets resume their defense of the NBA Title Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves as Round 2 tips off. The Nuggets (-215) are sizable favorites to take the series against the Timberwolves (+175). Game 1 of the series is priced slightly tighter.

Round 2, Game 1

Minnesota Timberwolves (+150) @ Denver Nuggets (-180)

Spread: Nuggets -4 | O/U: 208

The boys of Bet the EDGE took a dive into the series and its pricing.

Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) is not on the Nuggets’ bandwagon.

“I think the Nuggets are overrated,” said Dinsick. “I think that the risk of injury for Denver’s guards specifically is a huge question mark in my mind right now. My fair on this when we talked about this yesterday was -180 and that was assuming full health for the guards all series. I know Murray was phenomenal, Caldwell Pope came back into the game, and Reggie Jackson looked perfectly fine. But it’s a really, really thin room and those guards are now going to have to play through injury against a team that has wings who are just smothering. I think the potential for this to be a much, much tougher lift than the Nuggets are prepared for is real.”

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Jay Croucher (@croucherJD) pushed back a bit.

“I would lean to Denver slightly. I do think their defense is legitimate and I think what is so unique about Denver’s defense or what makes it effective is they’re just so long. They’re just massive human beings out there. Aaron Gordon is huge. Michael Porter Jr., for his sins, is a giant human being. Jokic obviously is seven foot and knows where to be and how to use his size. I’m just worried that it’s going to look a lot different for Minnesota’s offense as opposed to going up against no size whatsoever in Phoenix.”

He continued.

“It’s so hard to score over their length when you have Gordon roaming around there and Jokic’s size. So, I’d just be concerned about Minnesota’s offense, and I’ve just watched a lot of Wolves’ basketball the past two years and I just find it hard to believe that they’ve exercised the clown elements of their game which have surfaced time and time again.”

Dinsick believes Karl-Anthony Towns could be the difference this series.

“I have a very quiet, very, very soft opinion on KAT which is that whatever ghosts were haunting him in the playoffs past seem to be exercised, which has me thinking that he could be sort of the X Factor for the Timberwolves. If you’ve already bought into them at price, if you’ve already kind of taken some shots on the Twolves, I think that’s kind of where you have to be in terms of what his impact on this series is going to be. He’s going to have to be a factor. If he is not, they’re going to be in trouble.”

Denver and Minnesota each faced little adversity in the opening round of the playoffs. It is fair this series should force each side to work a little harder.

Enjoy the game Saturday and enjoy a sweat or two.

Bet the Edge is your source for the day in sports betting. Get all of Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick’s insight weekdays at 6AM ET right here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers in five

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Minnesota Timberwolves up next

• Which player from Minnesota who missed last year’s series worries you the most?
• Which player for Denver will be the X Factor?
• How many games do you expect this series to go?

WINNIPEG — Mikko Rantanen found a stick he liked, and shot the Colorado Avalanche into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Winnipeg Jets played their best game of the series facing elimination, but the Avs continued to put pucks past the pending Vezina Trophy winner and advanced with a 6-3 victory Tuesday night in Game 5 at Canada Life Centre.

Colorado won four straight in this series after dropping Game 1, and will now awaits the winner of Dallas-Vegas in the second round.

“How hard we worked and how hard we battled this series was amazing,” Nathan MacKinnon said. “Before the series, I think we came in really humble. We weren’t playing well. These guys just beat us 7-0 (on April 13), so it was a big wake up call … super proud of the guys.”

A little more than two minutes after Tyler Toffoli had brought the Jets even early in the third period, Rantanen scored for the first time in this series to put Colorado in front. Rantanen had been so frustrated earlier in this game that he had snapped a stick in two pieces.

The new stick worked out. Rantanen tipped a shot from the top of the zone by Devon Toews past Connor Hellebuyck to put Colorado in front 4:11 into the third period.

Rantanen scored again to make it 5-3 on a one-timer from Nathan MacKinnon during a 2-on-1 with 11:59 remaining in the third. MacKinnon and Cale Makar finished with nine points in this series, while Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen had eight.

“Luck wasn’t really bouncing at times our way, but that’s what happens sometimes,” Rantanen said. “You get frustrated. I was going to try avoid doing that. Overall, the series was really, really good for us. I think we got better after every game.”

Colorado scored 24 times in five games on Hellebuyck, and four more into an empty net, the last from Josh Manson on Tuesday night. Winnipeg finished the regular season tied for the fewest goals allowed. The Avs scored the most, and great offense beat great defense repeatedly in this series.

Winnipeg finished with 110 points, three more than Colorado, to earn home-ice advantage in this series, but it’s another early playoff exit for the Jets and a question-filled offseason beckons in Southern Manitoba.

The Avs scored first, but into the wrong net. Kyle Connor’s shot trickled behind Alexandar Georgiev and when Manson tried to sweep it out of danger. It hit Lehkonen and the edge of the crease and caromed back into the Colorado net instead.

Colorado got that one back a little more than two minutes later. Right after the fourth line had a great shift, the top trio went to work. MacKinnon carried the puck into the zone, and Valeri Nichushkin finished a tic-tac-toe play from Rantanen and Toews to make it 1-1 just 3:18 in.

Yakov Trenin capped another strong shift from the fourth line with Colorado’s second goal 5:42 into the second period. Trenin fell in the neutral zone early in the shift, which earned a Bronx cheer from the crowd.

Then he worked over Neal Pionk behind the net for an initial shot and beat the defenseman to the rebound for his first goal of the series. Trenin cupped his ear to the suddenly silent crowd, then egged them on before jumping into the glass.

“All series long, (the fourth line’s) forechecking through the course of this series was outstanding,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “The work that they put in, to not only put pressure on their (defense), but to come up with pucks, the physicality. Playing to their identity as a line was outstanding and they got rewarded for their hard work.”

Just like the first period, the team that went down answered quickly. Miles Wood took a penalty trying to get past Colin Miller. Fourteen seconds later, Josh Morrissey scored his third goal of the series on a one-timer from above the right circle.

The hockey gods evened the fluke bounces out later in the second. Lehkonen sent the puck in the general direction of the Winnipeg net, but it was going well wide … until it hit Pionk’s stick and went in the net at 13:45 of the second.

It was Lehkonen’s fifth goal of the series. He and Nichushkin both scored in every game.

Georgiev finished with 33 saves. He allowed seven goals on 23 shots in the opening game of this series, but then proceeded to outplay Hellebuyck the rest of the way.

“(Georgiev) was outstanding all series,” Trenin said. “Very proud of how he came back and just shut up all the haters.”

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