The brooms are back in the closet for now after the Wolves swept Phoenix out of the playoffs Sunday night. The Timberwolves are coming off their first series win since 2004 and the first sweep in the franchise’s history.
Next up, the defending champs.
We now know what days the Timberwolves will play the Denver Nuggets in the next round of the NBA playoffs. The best-of-seven series begins Saturday in Denver, which also hosts game 2 on Monday.
Games 3 and 4 are at Target Center on May 10 and 12. If necessary, game 5 is May 14 in Denver, followed by game s6 in Minneapolis on May 16. A deciding game 7 would be May 19 in Denver.
The Wolves are looking for some revenge after Denver knocked them out of the playoffs last season. That was a Wolves team dealing with some injuries however. Key pieces Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid were out and even with that, the Timberwolves pushed Denver pretty hard, something that isn't lost on their head coach.
“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,” Michael Malone said after Monday's win gave Denver a 4-1 series win over the Lakers. “And it’s going to be a hard-fought series and I’m sure they’re going to want revenge from last season.”
The two teams certainly know each other well. They split the season series 2-2 and had nearly identical records (57 wins for Denver, 56 for Minnesota).
A MAJOR INJURY CONCERN....TO THE COACH?
One serious wild card in this series might not be on the playing court though.
It's not known when Wolves coach Chris Finch will be back after a freak collision with Mike Conley at the end of game 4 in Phoenix. It turns out he tore his right patellar tendon. ESPN is reporting that Finch is scheduled have surgery on his right knee Wednesday and it's unclear if he'll be able to coach the team from the bench.
Post-surgery, Finch will need to keep the leg immobilized and in a brace making coaching from the sideline pretty unlikely. If he's not ready to go for game 1, assistant Micha Nori would lead the team with Finch communicating with the team from the locker room.
The report does say Finch should be able to travel with the team to Denver however.
TICKETS
The Minnesota Timberwolves announced tickets for Round 2 of Timberwolves playoffs will go on sale Wednesday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m. CT.
Tickets for home games 3 and 4 of the second-round playoff games at Target Center will be available for purchase at www.timberwolves.com/tickets or by calling 612-673-1234.