Nuggets playoff opener set, will get Prime matinee

By beating the Spurs to finish a season-ending 12-game win streak, the Nuggets secured the No. 3 seed which means a matchup with the rival Timberwolves

BY JAKE SHAPIRO

Apr 12, 2026, 9:16 PM

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By beating the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday to finish a season-ending 12-game win streak, the Denver Nuggets secured the No. 3 seed which means a matchup with the rival Minnesota Timberwolves.

The series tips off at Ball Arena on Saturday April 18 at 1:30 local. The game will be broadcasted by Amazon Prime.

📢 First Round: Game 1 Schedule ⬇️

The NBA Playoffs presented by @Google begin Saturday, April 18. pic.twitter.com/Xu2eiP8CXZ

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 13, 2026

It will be the third Nuggets-Timberwolves playoff meeting in four years. Minnesota memorably erased a 20-point deficit to win Game 7 in Denver in their 2024 second-round series, a scar that lingers at Ball Arena. The Wolves went 48-33 this season and enter as the No. 6 seed. And a much different team than the one that beat Denver in 2024, having traded Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle. Still, they’ve gone to back-to-back conference finals.

“We have a ton of respect for them, as I know they do for us,” David Adelman said on Sunday. “It’s gonna be hell of a series.

Denver will carry a 12-game winning streak into the postseason — the longest active streak in the league — after closing the regular season 54-28. Nikola Jokic, who played just enough minutes Sunday to satisfy the NBA’s 65-game eligibility rule, finished the year as the first player in NBA history to lead the league in both rebounds and assists per game in the same season.

Jamal Murray, who sat out the final two games after already meeting the 65-game threshold, is expected to be full-go for Game 1. The rest of the Nuggets’ starting lineup were also held out of the finale for rest and are expected to be ready to go. Both Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels have recently fought with injuries. Both are expected to be available for Game 1, though Edwards missed nine of the Wolves’ final 12 regular-season games with right knee pain.

The Play-In Tournament begins Monday, with the full first-round schedule to be released by the NBA later this week.