Denver Nuggets

Picks

Know who will despise the Timberwolves’ escalated pace without Anthony Edwards? Nuggets’ star Nikola Jokic. He already looks exhausted. One might wonder if his temper tantrum at the end of Game 4 was in part the result of shoddy judgment thanks to fatigue. Jokic will struggle to get up and down the court with Hyland, Dosunmu, and McDaniels — and their pace will only further sap his legs.

The Timberwolves should run in Anthony Edwards’s absence. Bones Hyland, Ayo Dosunmu and Jaden McDaniels will have much of the duty getting the ball up the court, and they will never turn down a chance to push the pace up the court. Those transition opportunities will help McDaniels score without living beyond the arc, where he has scuffled to a 10.5% showing in his last six games. Those opportunities will also create easy assist chances, and he already averages 3.2 assists without Edwards compared to 2.6 with the shooting guard in the lineup.