In what will be their first of the three games in the coming months, the Denver Nuggets will face the young and blazing Minnesota Timberwolves tonight. It is a match between number two and three in the Western Conference with both teams tied with an identical 47-21 record. However, the coming game poses significant challenges for the Wolves as questions over Rudy Gobert’s fitness remain.

Gobert has missed the Wolves’ consecutive games against the Jazz due to a rib injury and was questionable ahead of the game before being ruled out. He will miss the clash against the Nuggets going by the update provided by Chris Hine on X. Hine tweeted about Gobert saying that “it could be a matter of days” before he is healed. His absence will be a big miss for Wolves who have a couple of key players already out.

Karl-Anthony Towns is out because of a meniscus injury leaving a vulnerable frontcourt for the Wolves. Jaylen Clark also remains out due to a right Achilles injury. Naz Reid, the backup center, has been shouldering a lot of towering tasks lately. However, he left the Monday night game due to a hand injury. With that, his availability for the coming game is also under a cloud.

Furthermore, further concerns lie for Minnesota other than concern over all their centers. Anthony Edwards, seconds after making noise for his emphatic dunk, dislocated his finger. With that, his status against Denver is also not clear.

For the Nuggets, there are two players on their injury list. Zeke Nanji is questionable to play due to lower back pain and Vlatko Cancar is out after a left knee surgery.

Wolves will sorely miss Gobert, who played a key role in their win in the first clash against the Nuggets this season. Gobert scored four points, 12 rebounds, and made two blocks as the Wolves prevailed 110-89 over the Denver side. His impact across the season has also been instrumental. The Timberwolves are 3-2 in the five games he has missed this season.

His absence could provide major room for Nikola Jokić to operate on the court. Jokic is currently Denver’s leader in points (25.9), assists (9.1), and rebounds (12.2) while being the front-runner of the MVP conversations. Given that the Wolves will host the defending champs in the second leg of a back-to-back, the game will be challenging. The two teams clashed earlier in the season, with Jokic’s impressive showing failing to stop the Wolves’ charge.

Jokic and Rudy Gobert’s first matchup this season

The Nuggets and Wolves initially squared off at the beginning of the season, as Minnesota handed the defending champions their first loss of the campaign. The game saw Anthony Edwards posting a team-high 24 points on 50% efficiency, as Karl-Anthony followed with 21 points and eight rebounds. Moreover, even though Rudy Gobert failed to make a dent in scoring, he secured 12 boards (2 offensive).

The Wolves win came through a dismal Denver outing, majorly on the shooting front. As the team shot below 40% from the field, Nikola Jokić posted a 25 points, ten rebound double-double. As Jamal Murray struggled from the floor (5-15 shooting), no other player on the roster scored more than 6 points.

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Nevertheless, the current day Denver is a top-10 defense in the league and has won 11 of their 13 games in the last month. Moreover, separated far from their November 1 game against the Wolves, they are now the 7th best offensive team in the league. With that and the Timberwolves’ potential struggles, Denver could end the game closer to the top spot than the home team.

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