The Minnesota Timberwolves head into Ball Arena tonight for a pivotal Game 5 with a chance to eliminate the Denver Nuggets and advance to the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. After dismantling Denver in consecutive home games to take a 3-1 series lead, Minnesota has successfully stifled the Nuggets' offense, holding them to under 100 points in three of the four games so far. Added to the tension of it being an elimination game is the fact tonight’s game comes one game after Nikola Jokić and Julius Randle were ejected after a late-game altercation.
The task of eliminating Denver, however, is a tall one. The Timberwolves will be without their starting backcourt as their superstar, Anthony Edwards (knee) and his running mate Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) have been declared out of tonight’s game. Minnesota will look to Ayo Dosunmu to replicate his heroic Game 4 performance, where he stepped in for the injured Edwards and scored a career-high 43 points in 42 minutes to keep the Nuggets at bay.
The Nuggets are dealing with their own significant health concerns. Key "connector" Aaron Gordon is officially questionable with persistent left calf tightness that clearly limited his explosiveness and minutes in the previous game. Without Gordon at full strength and already missing Peyton Watson (hamstring), the Nuggets will need to work all the harder to attack the Timberwolves with more than just Jokic and Jamal Murray.
Because of the absence of Edwards and the fact Game 5 is in Denver, though, the Nuggets take the court as favorites. To force a Game 6, Denver must find a way to crack the Timberwolves' tenacious defense while of course capitalizing on the absence of Anthony Edwards.
Lets take a closer look at tonight’s matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch Live: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets
- Date: Monday, April 27, 2026
- Time: 10:30PM EST
- Site: Ball Arena
- City: Denver, CO
- Network/Streaming: NBC/Peacock
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Game Odds: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets
The latest odds as of Monday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: Minnesota Timberwolves (+380), Denver Nuggets (-500)
- Spread: Nuggets -11.5
- Total: 222.5 points
This game opened Nuggets -10.5 with the Game Total set at 224.5.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Expected Starting Lineups: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets
Minnesota Timberwolves
- PG Mike Conley
- SG Ayo Dosunmu
- C Rudy Gobert
- SF Julius Randle
- PF Jaden McDaniels
Denver Nuggets
- PG Jamal Murray
- SG Christian Braun
- SF Cam Johnson
- C Nikola Jokic
- PF Aaron Gordon
Injury Report: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Anthony Edwards (knee) has been declared OUT of tonight’s game
- Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) has been declared OUT of tonight’s game
Denver Nuggets
- Aaron Gordon (calf) is questionable for tonight’s game
- Peyton Watson (hamstring) has been declared OUT of tonight’s game
Important stats, trends and insights: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets
- The Timberwolves are 24-19 on the road this season
- The Nuggets are 29-14 at home this season
- The Nuggets are 45-41 ATS this season
- Minnesota is 40-46 ATS this season
- The OVER has cashed in 53 of the Nuggets’ 86 games this season (53-33)
- The OVER has cashed in 38 of the Timberwolves’ 84 games this season (38-48)
- Ayo Dosunmu averaged 14.8 points per game during the regular season but is now leading the Timberwolves through 4 games of the postseason averaging 22.8 points per game
- Rudy Gobert is averaging 11.0 rebounds per game in this series after grabbing 27 in the 2 games in Minneapolis
- Julius Randle is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game in this series
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s Timberwolves and Nuggets game:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Timberwolves +11.5 ATS
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total UNDER 222.5
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