Denver coach David Adelman said Wednesday he is hopeful Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones will be able to play in Game 1 of the Nuggets’ first-round playoff series against the Timberwolves on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET, even though neither wing had been cleared yet. Both players took part in a non-contact practice at Ball Arena, a step forward for a team that has spent the week trying to get bodies right before the postseason begins.
Watson and Jones are both dealing with right hamstring injuries, and their availability matters because Denver views them as important perimeter defenders against Anthony Edwards. Adelman said, “It’s nice to have some days to get people right,” and added that he hopes the extra time gives both players “a better chance to come back and play.” Watson is working back from a reaggravation of the strain he suffered in early February, while Jones missed the last six games of the regular season after hamstring tightness surfaced at the start of April.
The Nuggets’ need for those defenders is plain. Christian Braun is set to guard Edwards in Denver’s starting lineup, and Nikola Jokic called him one of the hardest offensive players to defend. Jokic said Edwards’ change of pace, shot-making, separation and ability to score in the post and midrange make him a problem all over the floor. Braun, too, was direct: “He can do a little bit of everything.” He said Edwards is shooting the ball “a lot more and a lot better” than in previous playoff meetings and called the matchup “an exciting” one for Denver.
Denver and Minnesota are meeting again after playoff series in 2023 and 2024, but Adelman said the teams look different now. “This is a totally different series,” he said, pointing to the absences and changes on both sides, including the fact that the Nuggets no longer have KCP and the Timberwolves no longer have Nickeil Alexander-Walker. He also said Denver has talked about how both teams have evolved since those earlier meetings, with Edwards continuing to get better each year.
For Denver, the first test of this series may be less about the matchup history and more about whether Watson and Jones can get from non-contact work to game-ready in time. If they can, the Nuggets gain two more bodies for the kind of possession-by-possession defense that can decide a series. If they cannot, Braun and the rest of the rotation will have to absorb even more of the burden against Edwards from the opening tip.
