Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch suffered a torn patellar tendon in his right knee during Minnesota's series sweep-clinching 122-116 victory over the Phoenix Suns. And while the team will have several days off before the second-round series opener vs. the Denver Nuggets, Finch's status is anything but simple.

After sustaining the injury due to Mike Conley colliding with him on the sidelines in the final two minutes of Saturday's Game 4 win in Phoenix, Finch was helped off the floor and into the locker room. Finch will undergo surgery tomorrow to repair the tendon, but with Game 1 against Denver on Saturday, the Timberwolves aren't sure Finch will be ready to coach by then, according to ESPN.

“Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch will undergo surgery to repair a right patellar tendon Wednesday, and it remains unclear whether he'll be able to open the franchise's Western Conference semifinal series against the Denver Nuggets on the bench, sources told ESPN,” as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne. “In the early stages of his rehabilitation, Finch will be required to keep [his] right leg immobilized in a brace. If Finch isn't able to park on the sidelines to start the series, assistant Micah Nori will coach Game 1 on Saturday, with Finch likely communicating to the bench from the locker room, sources said.”

Wojnarowski and Shelburne also reported that Finch “should be able to travel to Denver with the team to travel” just two days after surgery as long as there are no complications. The Timberwolves, as the No. 3 seed, will play the first two games of the series on the road in Denver before returning home for two games in Minneapolis.

Nuggets vs. Timberwolves head-to-head

Denver Nuggets player Nikola Jokic guarded by Minnesota Timberwolves player Naz Reid

After meeting in last year's playoffs, the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves seemed nearly destined to play one another again. For most of the season, the teams were among the top three in the Western Conference, along with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and seemed to match up particularly well with each other.

In each of the past two seasons, the Nuggets and Timberwolves have split their regular-season series; both teams won their pair of home games last season but went 1-1 in the home contests this season. But the Nuggets hold a playoff series victory over Minnesota, albeit a much different team than now.

In a hard-fought series, the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves 4-1 in last year's first-round series. Denver suffered its only loss in Game 4, a 114-108 road defeat, in overtime. But the Timberwolves have changed for the better in the year since then. The improved health of defensive dynamo Rudy Gobert, Anthony Edwards' rise to superstardom, and a stellar rotation that also includes the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid, Mike Conley, and Jaden McDaniels have transformed Minnesota into one of the league's very best teams.

The Timberwolves will have to overcome their biggest obstacles to reach their second Western Conference Finals in franchise history, though: Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. The Nuggets' superstar pair dispatched the Los Angeles Lakers in five games despite inconsistent performances throughout the series, and as evident by their NBA Championship run last season, they are capable of overwhelming nearly any opponent.