2024 NBA playoffs - Bets, lines and stats for Friday - ESPN

The NBA playoffs march on with a pair of conference semifinal matchups Friday night. The game I'm looking forward to the most is Game 3 between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Can the Timberwolves go up 3-0 on their home court? The spotlight will be on Nikola Jokic, who has an uncharacteristic 11 turnovers in this series and has had to deal with the Timberwolves' ferocious defense. Looking forward to seeing what Joker has up his sleeve in Game 3.

Nikola Jokic OVER 29.5 points. You know the playoffs are not for the faint of heart. Going down 0-3? That's practically a death sentence for any team. The reigning MVP is gearing up for a bounce-back on Friday night in what's become a must-win game. Jokic is going bring the heat against the Timberwolves in Game 3. He's cleared this line in four out of six games against Minnesota this season. Jokic should be very aggressive tonight.

Rudy Gobert OVER 13.5 assists and rebounds. Even though he's only cleared this line in three of his last five games, there's another key detail you should consider. Gobert has averaged 3.2 potential assists and 20.0 rebound chances per game during that span. It's also worth noting that the Timberwolves alternated between having Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns defend Jokic in Game 1. Now that he's back from missing Game 2 due to his son's birth, Gobert can grab more rebounds in Game 3. Gobert only played 25 minutes in Game 1, but he's cleared this line in 72% of his games this season when he played 30 or more minutes.

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Josh Hart OVER 5.5 assists. He's hit this mark in three of his last five games and has averaged 8.0 potential assists