If you turn on your favorite sports talk show, listen to your favorite basketball podcast or visit your go-to location for NBA content, there’s an overwhelming commonality being said about the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets matchup in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
They are saying — in a league that is rich with storied rivalries — that the Wolves/Nuggets rivalry, which has grown even more over the last handful of years, could be establishing into one of the best rivalries in the NBA.
Well, we’re putting that debate to rest — the Wolves/Nuggets rivalry is the best in the NBA right now. And it might be one of the best we’ve seen in a long time.
This rivalry has grown stronger over the last few years, with the two squads facing off for the third straight postseason this year. And the way this series has unfolded thus far, it’s becoming a heated rivalry that fans are getting their popcorn ready for.
Over the Years
The battle between Minnesota and Denver has always been a good one, with the Nuggets holding a 92-61 all-time edge in head-to-head matchups. But it seemed like things turned up a notch the moment Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels joined the Wolves in 2020.
Spanning back to 2020, the Wolves and Nuggets have faced off 23 times in the regular season, also battling 17 times in the playoffs heading into Game 6 of the first round on April 30 in Minneapolis.
In those regular season games spanning five seasons, Minnesota holds a 12-11 edge, but those 23 games have been awfully close in totality. As mentioned, Minnesota has a one-game edge over the five-year span of regular season contests, but the point differential in those 23 contests is 2,719-2,655 — meaning the Wolves have the edge by just 64 points.
As for the postseason, it has been even closer. In the 17 postseason games over the past five years (leading up to Game 6 on April 30), the Wolves have outscored the Nuggets 1,808-1,801. Yes, that’s seven points.
Both teams always give their best effort against each other and it oftentimes results in some great basketball and close battles. It just seems different for both squads when they step on the court against the other. Early on in that five-year stretch, Denver was one of the teams others were aiming for, Minnesota included. So much so that Wolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly essentially constructed this current Wolves team as we know it with the idea of taking down the Nuggets.
Year in and year out, things always seem to heat up between the Wolves and Nuggets. They don’t like each other, and most importantly, they want to defeat the other. And when the postseason arrives, the two sides take it to another level.
Turning it Up in the Postseason
Now, let’s talk about the playoffs.
Many have seen and heard the “they’re all bad defenders” comments made by Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels throughout the first-round series against the Nuggets, or maybe saw the late-game shoving match between Nikola Jokic, McDaniels and players from both sides at the end of Game 4 in Minneapolis.
But this isn’t anything new. This rivalry has been brewing for years — it just seems to turn up a notch when there is more on the line in the postseason.
This season marks the third time in four years we’ve seen a Minnesota vs. Denver matchup in the playoffs.
In 2023, the top-seeded Nuggets handed the eighth-seeded Wolves a “gentleman’s sweep,” taking that opening round series 4-1 to end Minnesota’s season while Denver continued on to win its first NBA title.
In 2024, the third-seeded Wolves got their revenge in the second round of the semifinals, taking the best-of-seven series 4-3 over the second-seeded Nuggets. Minnesota would end up falling to Dallas in the Conference Finals that season.
And last year, in 2025, the sixth-seeded Wolves would have faced the fourth-seeded Nuggets in the Conference Finals, but Denver lost to Oklahoma City in the semifinals to set up an OKC/Minnesota matchup in the Conference Finals. The Thunder would end up winning that series en route to winning the NBA title.
It may be a different year, but here we sit with the same storyline of Minnesota vs. Denver. With every year comes another chapter that gets written in this evolving rivalry — and 2026 has certainly added to it.
The battles between these two teams have been filled with great basketball, emotion, heated moments, plenty of trash talk and more — all of which make rivalries so fun to watch. And right now, this rivalry is the best in the NBA — and could end up being one of the best in recent memory when it’s all said and done.