Wolves announce first-round playoff schedule

And if that wasn't enough, it needed overtime to decide the victor. And play down low was physical on both ends, with Millsap hitting the deck multiple times. That was just tough, physical for 48 minutes.

Two-way player Gary Payton II added a career-best 25 points off the bench as the Lakers beat their Staples Center co-tenant for the first time since April 4, 2012, as the visiting team. Towns ended up with 24 points, 2 assists, 18 rebounds and 1 block with 1 turnover in 29 minutes.

The Wolves lost power forward Taj Gibson in the first quarter to a neck injury he suffered in the previous game and tried to play through.

BOSTON - Aron Baynes led a short-handed Boston lineup with a career-best 26 points and 14 rebounds, carrying the Celtics past Brooklyn. If you didn't do the math: 46+35 = 81 games.

Looking at the betting trends, the Nuggets are 5-1 ATS in their last six road games and 9-4-2 ATS in their last 15 road games against a team with a home record above.600. Several of those were "live" turnovers, which led to transition opportunities for Minnesota.

The Timberwolves come into this game 7 in scoring with 109.5 points a game.

With the win in the regular-season finale, Portland claimed the third seed in the Western Conference and will play the sixth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans in the opening round of the playoffs.

Yet like so many games during this streak, Denver made a late push in the fourth quarter.

It will mark just the second postseason meeting between the two teams.

"I don't want to have that feeling next year", Murray said.

With his 16th rebound Wednesday against the Grizzlies, Russell Westbrook became the first player to average a triple-double in multiple seasons. He's likely to get some votes for the All-NBA team. And yet, Denver finished last in the toughest division in the National Basketball Association.

If Denver is going to record the upset on the road tonight, it must get past the fact that the majority of its successes this season have come on its home court. With the return of Jimmy Butler, the Timberwolves are in full force.

The team took a 112-106 win over the Denver Nuggets in an overtime thriller that earned the team its first playoffs appearance in 14 years. How to handle runs. There are nine teams who know Wednesday is the last day of their season. But in a playoff race appropriately dubbed the Wild West, Denver needed one more victory in a rare play-in game against a division foe. We gotta have that mentality from the start.

The Minnesota Timberwolves (47-35) played strong to beat Denver to get into the playoffs. Made a insane pass to me, Jimmy closed out to me strong and I got to the rim for a floater that I make every day. Looking ahead, if the Rockets beat the Timberwolves, they will play the victor of the series between Oklahoma City and Utah.

It seems like they should be better or younger.

"Just going out there playing hard, making them work for everything", Brooks said. Strangely enough, it is the second time the Nuggets have been in this situation.