Timberwolves vs. Suns playoffs: Why Game 1 is important to Minnesota

It goes without saying that every game in any sport becomes magnified in the playoffs. Game 1 is a tone-setter. In a seven-game series, it allows the most forgiveness in general because the losing team still has time to make up ground. Per the site Who Wins (an excellent resource for a lot of major sports playoff history), NBA teams that win Game 1 go on to win the series 75.3% of the time.