Denver, CO
Timberwolves to open NBA Playoffs at Denver Nuggets Saturday
Kevin Garnett returns to Target Center for Timberwolves’ finale
Former Minnesota Timberwolves’ legend Kevin Garnett returned to Target Center Sunday night for the first time in eight years. He was escorted, along with his two daughters, to their courtside seats by owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. He walked out to a standing ovation from fans, and a video tribute.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – 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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Denver, CO
Denver hockey’s Johnny Hicks wins DU Pioneers’ Male Athlete of the Year
Denver, CO
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).”
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.
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.”
Also in the seventh, Kyle Karros came off the bench to whistle a leadoff homer to right off Ryan Borucki. It was Karros’ third homer of the season, fourth of his young career, and the first pinch-hit home run of his career. It was also his first home run against a team other than the Dodgers — his father, Eric’s, former team.
“That was becoming a thing, so it’s nice to put that narrative to rest,” Karros joked. “I think I saw somewhere where it said, ‘Are the Dodgers just feeling Karros meatballs?’ That’s certainly not the case.”
The Rockies provided an early comfort zone for Feltner by scoring two runs in the first inning. McCarthy and Hunter Goodman drew walks off Houser, Willi Castro delivered an RBI single, and Sterling Thompson took one for the team, getting plunked by Houser with the bases loaded.
Castro hit 2 for 5, recording a multi-hit game for the fifth time in his last six starts.
San Francisco spoiled a rare Rockies shutout with a two-run homer in the eighth by Drew Gilbert off reliever Blas Castano.
The Rockies (22-37) will play for their third series sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon at Coors. Should the Rockies win, they will move out of the National League West cellar and the Giants (22-36) would fall into last place.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Giants LHP Robbie Ray (3-6, 4.60 ERA) at Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (0-0, 5.85), 1:10 p.m.
Monday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-6, 8.08) at Angels RHP Jose Soriano (6-4, 2.65), 7:38 p.m.
Tuesday: Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (4-4, 4.01) at Angels RHP Grayson Rodriguez (2-1, 7.53), 7:38 p.m.
Wednesday: Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-7, 7.22) at Angels RHP Walbert Urena (2-4, 2.44), 7:38 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
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