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Timberwolves to open NBA Playoffs at Denver Nuggets Saturday

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Timberwolves to open NBA Playoffs at Denver Nuggets Saturday


The Minnesota Timberwolves will face the Denver Nuggets to open the Western Conference Playoffs.

It’ll mark the third time in four seasons the two teams have met in the NBA Playoffs.

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Timberwolves vs Nuggets playoff series

What we know:

The Nuggets rested several of their starters against the San Antonio Spurs Sunday night, but still got a 128-118 win to earn the No. 3 seed for the Western Conference Playoffs. The L.A. Lakers fell to the No. 4 spot despite beating the Utah Jazz 131-107 Sunday night.

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The Timberwolves had already earned the No. 6 seed in the West last week. They got a 136-132 win over the Houston Rockets, and in Sunday’s regular season finale, beat the New Orleans Pelicans 132-126 to finish the season 49-33.

The Timberwolves probably would’ve preferred to have the Lakers get the No. 3 seed, with star guard Luka Doncic dealing with a hamstring injury. Guard Austin Reaves is also dealing with an oblique injury.

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The Timberwolves and Nuggets will play a best-of-seven series, with games 3 and 4 at Target Center, as as well as a game 6, if necessary. 

Timberwolves rivalry with Nuggets

Why you should care:

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The two teams enter the Western Conference Playoffs with quite the rivalry. The Nuggets went 3-1 this year against the Timberwolves in the regular season.

Last year, the Timberwolves swept the regular season 4-0, then the two teams didn’t meet in the playoffs. Minnesota got to its second straight Western Conference Finals, and the Nuggets got eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Timberwolves and Nuggets went seven games in the 2024 Western Conference Semifinals, and in Game 7, Minnesota came back from a 20-point deficit to win and advance to its first Western Conference Finals in 20 years.

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In 2023, the Nuggets beat the Timberwolves in the first round on the way to winning the NBA title. Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels both missed that series due to injuries.

In 2017, the Timberwolves ended a 13-year playoff drought, needing overtime to beat the Nuggets in a play-in game, 112-106.

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Game 1 set for Saturday

What’s next:

The Timberwolves will travel to Denver and face the Nuggets in Game 1 of their playoff series at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on Amazon Prime. 

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Denver, CO

Denver hockey’s Johnny Hicks wins DU Pioneers’ Male Athlete of the Year

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Denver hockey’s Johnny Hicks wins DU Pioneers’ Male Athlete of the Year


Where good news shines What a year it was for Johnny Hicks. The Denver Pioneers’ freshman goaltender was named Denver Athletics’ Male Student-Athlete of the Year on Friday. In helping the Pioneers to their 11th NCAA championship, Hicks was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He set school records with a 16-0-1 mark and 1.19 […]



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Denver, CO

Rockies’ Ryan Feltner pitches a gem, Jake McCarthy shines in 8-3 win over Giants

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Rockies’ Ryan Feltner pitches a gem, Jake McCarthy shines in 8-3 win over Giants


The Rockies threw a boffo welcome-back for Ryan Feltner on Saturday night, and the right-hander was the biggest party animal of all.

Coming back from an elbow injury and making his first big-league start since April 23, the right-hander celebrated by pitching six crisp, efficient innings in Colorado’s 8-3 win over the Giants at Coors Field. Feltner allowed no runs, just four hits, struck out two, and walked none.  He needed just 63 pitches, throwing 41 for strikes.

“I felt great and felt like all of my pitches were working,” said Feltner, who became the first Rockies starter to pitch six scoreless innings with no walks since lefty Kyle Freeland on Sept. 5 of last season vs. San Diego.

“I was really happy about the efficiency part of the game,” Feltner added. “It’s always important to go deep into a game here (at Coors).”

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Manager Warren Schaeffer said there was never any thought about pushing Feltner past six innings after Feltner made just two minor league rehab starts.

“There was no reason to push him into the seventh; he did his job,”  Schaeffer said. “His fastball command was exceptional, his slider was good and he got double-play balls early when he needed to. I just thought he controlled his game very well.

“He controlled his emotions, he was in attack mode, and like we talked about before the game, when he does that, he’s pretty dang good.”

The Rockies, who beat San Francisco 8-6 on Friday night on a walk-off homer by Ezequiel Tovar, clinched their first series win since sweeping the Mets from April 24-29 in New York.

Feltner got plenty of support.

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The Rockies have had a nasty habit this season of scoring early only to see the offense go into hibernation. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. The Rockies kept piling on and taking away any chance for late-game drama in LoDo.

“When a guy goes out there and grinds away, like Feltner did, you want to reward them with run,” said center fielder Jake McCarthy, who had a big night from the leadoff spot, going 3 for 4 with a walk and driving in four runs.

McCarthy’s 427-foot two-run homer in the fourth off Giants right-hander Adrian Houser gave Colorado a 4-0 lead. McCarthy added an RBI single in the fifth and another in Colorado’s three-run seventh. He also recorded his club-leading 10th stolen base and reached base four times for the eighth time in his career.

“I haven’t been patient the last week, I had a lot of pretty bad at-bats” he said. “But I think it’s just about getting good pitches to hit.  … Getting into good counts, seeing pitches and taking pitcher’s pitches you can make it easier on yourself. I think I did a good job of that tonight.”



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Denver, CO

Colorado outdoor spirit, music comes to downtown Denver

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Colorado outdoor spirit, music comes to downtown Denver


For one weekend a year, Denverites no longer have to drive to the mountains to experience the outdoor life Colorado has to offer. Although the music and film offerings may not be as plentiful in the mountains. The Outside Days festival returned to Denver Friday, bringing yoga, rock climbing and other outdoor activities to downtown. […]



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