Tuesday, the Wolves will see Doncic for the first time since he was cursing courtside fans as he helped eliminate the Wolves in Game 5 at Target Center.
“`You know we’re looking forward to it,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “We understand what happened the last time we saw him. You know how we felt. You never want to see anybody celebrating on your home court, and that’s our last memory. So we’ll be ready to go.”
Friday, the Nuggets will provide a different reminder — that earning the most impressive victory in franchise history can leave a team flat, once that celebration subsides.
The Wolves’ series victory over Denver felt like a championship bout, but left the Wolves only halfway to their goal of a championship.
“It feels like it goes fast, but also, each playoff series is like a lifetime,” center Rudy Gobert said. “The Denver series, for myself, so many things happened in a small amount of time. It’s great. We are so in the moment that we can lose track of time, but this is what we live for as basketball players and competitors. Everything you do has more impact on your career, your legacy, the things you’re going to leave behind. So it’s fun. It’s what we live for.”
Gobert might have the most uniquely challenging week. Tuesday, he’ll face the young and bouncy Dereck Lively II, who gave him so much trouble last spring. Friday, he’ll face Jokic, whose team might be diminished but who remains in the prime of an astonishing career. Saturday, he’ll face “Wemby,” the 7-4, three-point shooting wunderkind.
