It’s reasonable to assume that Stephen A. Smith is second-guessing his early pick for the series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. The well-known media figure was eager to embrace Minnesota following their dominant start that gave Chris Finch’s team a 2-0 series lead.
Following Minnesota’s 106-80 victory in Game 2 of the series, Smith declared on ESPN that “I believe the Minnesota Timberwolves are gonna sweep the reigning, defending NBA Champions.”
In response, the reigning champion Nuggets produced one of their best performances of the postseason, defeating the opposition 117-90 in Game 3.
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Smith appeared to have altered his mind after initially predicting that the Timberwolves would defeat the Nuggets.
Denver: ‘It seems like you forgot about us.’ Indeed, I did. I’m sorry, Smith stated on ABC. “Minnesota: I may have gone a little too crazy blowing them up. We’ll see.
In this hotly contested Western Conference semifinal showdown, many NBA analysts have the Timberwolves winning, but it takes a brave man to call an outright sweep. The Nuggets, under the direction of three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, have one of the league’s most potent offenses right now.
Smith claims that the Wolves’ excellent defense throughout this postseason run was a major contributing element in his forecast. Over the first two games, Denver’s average of 89.5 points per game was far lower than their regular-season average of 114.9 points.
Sunday’s pivotal Game 4 is scheduled to occur at Minneapolis’s Target Center.
