Nuggets preparing for 'beast' of opponent in Timberwolves

After dispatching of the Lakers in Game 5 Monday night, Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was relieved that he now has more time to prepare his club for "a beast."

That beast is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who swept the Suns in a dominant first round to set the stage for a rematch of last year's first-round series that Denver won in six games en route to winning the NBA championship.

“We did not want to get on that plane going back to L.A. And so now we can try to get ready for Saturday against a beast in Minnesota,” Malone said Monday night.

One area Malone will be focusing his attention is Denver's 3-point shooting. The Nuggets hit 16 triples in Game 5 against the Lakers after struggling from deep for quite some time. He believes 3-point shooting will be critical against the bigger Timberwolves.

“There’s so much room for improvement,” Malone said Monday night. “It was great to see us finally make some 3s tonight, 16 for 38. That has been a real area where we have struggled, not because they weren’t good looks but because they weren’t going down.

“We can get better and we’re going to have to get better because Minnesota was the No. 1 team in the West for most of the year,” Malone added. “And it’s going to be a hard-fought series and I’m sure they’re going to want revenge from last season.”

They split the season series 2-2 but health was an issue on both benches in all but one game. The lone game where both teams were fully healthy was way back on Nov. 1 when the Nuggets visited Target Center in Minneapolis and got rocked 110-89.

They met for a second time on March 19 in Minneapolis and the Nuggets led by 15 at the half and won 115-112. Minnesota put together a furious second-half rally despite playing without Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Nuggets were fully healthy.

Ten days later they battled in Denver and Minnesota and the Nuggets won 111-98. Denver didn't have Jamal Murray and Minnesota was without Towns.

The final regular season matchup was April 10 in Denver and Nikola Jokic put on a show with 41 points on 16-of-20 shooting. The Nuggets were at full strength while the Timberwolves were once again without Towns.

Both teams enter the playoff series in good health, though the Timberwolves may be at a disadvantage if head coach Chris Finch can't coach from the sideline. Finch suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in Game 4 against Phoenix on Sunday. He's undergoing surgery this week and his status for the Nuggets series is yet to be determined.