The Minnesota Timberwolves face the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, April 16. The game will be live streamed on Sling, which offers half off the first month, and on DirecTV Stream (free trial).

The top-seeded Nuggets start what they hope is a deep playoff run, and this time Nikola Jokic has his wingmen alongside him.

Jokic said he’s eager to see how far the Nuggets can go in the postseason with a fully healthy roster for the first time since Jamal Murray was dropping 50 points against Utah in the NBA bubble in 2020.

Murray (knee) was sidelined each of the last two postseasons and Michael Porter Jr. (back) missed a playoff series loss against Phoenix in 2021 and sat out last year’s first-round loss to Golden State following a midseason operation.

The Nuggets, who earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the first time in their history, finally could turn their thoughts toward the starting line Friday night as they gathered for a team dinner to watch the Timberwolves earn the No. 8 seed by crushing Oklahoma City 120-95.

Game 1 is Sunday night in Denver, where the Nuggets were 34-7 this season, a game shy of the Memphis Grizzlies’ NBA-best home-court record.

While the Timberwolves, who haven’t won a playoff series since 2004, were participating in the play-in with games against the Lakers and Thunder, the Nuggets had a week off.

The Wolves aren’t your typical eighth seed, just happy to reach the playoffs. They were just four wins shy of being the No. 4 seed and they went 20-15 against the top 10 teams in the West.

Wolves guard Mike Conley was with the Grizzlies in 2011 when they were a No. 8 seed and beat the top-seeded Spurs.

When is Wolves-Nuggets?

The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves play in an NBA playoffs at 8:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. ET) on Sunday, April 16.

Streaming options

Sling

Sling is also one of the cheaper live streaming services. It offers three different channel packages for its users: Sling Orange, Sling Blue and Sling Orange + Blue.

All three packages are offering half off the first month.

Sling Blue and Sling Orange are both $40 per month ($20 for the first month), but offer different channel selections.

The main difference between the two packages is the line of ESPN channels offered with Sling Orange as opposed to channels such as Fox News, MSNBC, Discovery and Bravo offered with Sling Blue.

Meanwhile, Sling Orange + Blue is both packages combined for $55 a month ($27.50 the first month).

DirecTV Stream

DirecTV Stream offers a free trial.

There are four options of DirecTV Stream. Price guaranteed for first two years.

The Entertainment Package, which consists of 65+ channels, is $64.99 until the promotion runs out April 30. It’s the basic package for can’t-miss entertainment – including ESPN, TNT, Nickelodeon and HGTV.

The Choice Package has more than 90 channels and is $84.99 during the promotion. The channels in ENTERTAINMENT, plus MLB Network, NBA TV, college sports networks, and more. Enjoy Regional Sports Networks with no additional fees.

The Ultimate Package has more than 130 channels and is $109.99 during the promotion. Everything in CHOICE, plus Oxygen, Golf Channel, NHL Network, Universal Kids and more.

The Premier Package has more than 140 channels and is $154.99 during the promotion. Everything in ULTIMATE, plus HBO Max, SHOWTIME, STARZ, Cinemax and more.

DirecTV Stream offers a free trial that doesn’t require much effort.

To sign up, enter a phone number, email address and credit card, and you’ll receive five days of the service without charge.

In addition, enhance your experience with the DirecTV Stream device. While it doesn’t include a free trial, it give you access to thousands of apps like Netflix and more on Google Play. You can search using the voice remote with Google Assistant, and you can enjoy a traditional live TV channel guide. It is sold separately.

What TV channel is game on?

The Nuggets and Timberwolves will be broadcast on TNT.

Preview

GROWING TOWNS: Towns missed 52 games this season with a severe calf strain, but he’s been rounding into form this month. He scored 26 points to lead the Timberwolves past the Thunder on Friday night.

Now in his eighth season, Towns has been in more control on the court since he came back, an important sign of growth for a team that has shown maturity issues despite Towns, Conley, Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson all being veterans with a combined 34 years of experience.

“I just feel like I’m just trying to do a better job of keeping the composure around everyone,” Towns said.

NEW LOOK: With starting forward Jaden McDaniels, their best perimeter defender, out with a broken hand, the Timberwolves turned to Nickeil Alexander-Walker in their play-in game win over Oklahoma City to guard Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, his cousin.

The suggestion actually came from president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, the man who helped build the current Nuggets roster.

Alexander-Walker gave the Timberwolves 37 high-quality minutes, helping keep Gilgeous-Alexander in check and producing 12 points, four rebounds, six assists, two blocks and three steals.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.