Two-time MVP Nikola Jokić notched game-highs of 35 points and 16 rebounds to lead Denver over a depleted Minnesota team, who got 56 combined points from Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels in the loss.
The Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night returned home from a season-long six-game road trip to a warm welcome, as they were greeted by soon-to-be three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and the surging Denver Nuggets, who were already waiting for them at Target Center on the second night of a back-to-back for the Wolves.
Anthony Edwards threw down the Dunk of the Year over John Collins before leading a furious 16-point comeback in a 114-104 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday, despite the Timberwolves — already down Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert — losing Naz Reid to a head injury that kept him out of the second half.
Reid did not play against the Nuggets, and Minnesota Head Coach Chris Finch said pregame on Tuesday that he doesn’t expect it to be a long-term absence. Gobert was upgraded to a game-time decision against Denver, but also sat out as a result of the left rib sprain he suffered in a 118-100 win over the Los Angeles Clippers last Monday.
So, it was up to Kyle Anderson to hold down the 5 spot in the Wolves’ starting lineup on Tuesday. Perhaps predictably, the Nuggets went right at him, knowing he is the best interior defender left on the active roster; and jst 3:02 into the game, Slow-Mo picked up his third foul, thrusting Luka Garza into the spotlight against Jokić and Co. He didn’t flinch, knocking down his first look of the game, a pick-and-pop 3 from Mike Conley against Jokić in a deep drop; he kept firing, too, getting up five 3-point looks in nine minutes.
While the fouls could’ve spiraled into bad energy like we’ve seen so many times this year, Edwards didn’t let that happen. He willed in three crucial scores, starting 3/3 from the floor and later adding a ridiculous one-handed put-back dunk that sent into a frenzy a packed house desperately looking for a reason to explode in a short-handed spot against the champs.
because we know you need another Ant dunk to watch. pic.twitter.com/RA9HjI0Rgw
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 20, 2024
But the Nuggets used their size to their advantage. Jokić and Aaron Gordon combined for 15 points and 14 rebounds in the first nine minutes, including five offensive rebounds that led either to Denver scores or free throws. Jokić was obviously far too big for any Wolves big, while a strength-on-strength matchup between Gordon and Edwards went to a tiebreaker — Gordon’s extra three inches of height.
Minnesota stayed in it, though, by way of a combined 11 points from Garza and T.J. Warren, who put up six points and two rebounds in the first frame — his most productive stint yet. Denver led 35-28 after one quarter, led by Jokić’s 13 points and eight rebounds. Edwards paced the Timberwolves with 11.
Anderson started the second quarter despite having three fouls. Finch’s unwillingness to play Leonard Miller or Josh Minott in those non-Jokić minutes should tell you all you need to know about what he thinks of the two prospects at this stage.
Slow-Mo played alongside Jordan McLaughlin, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaden McDaniels, who clearly felt empowered as a lead dog scorer. McDaniels scored six points in the first 4:38 of the period as a result of strong takes off the dribble (including a monster throwdown), and got to the line for a pair as well to help keep Denver at bay.
HAMMER TIME pic.twitter.com/v1xnVK7Alf
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 20, 2024
But Denver seized control of this one by relentlessly attacking downhill and creating efficient looks either in the paint on drives, post-ups or cuts, or by spraying the ball out for open triples. The Nuggets connected on 10 of their first 15 looks in the quarter, and probably would’ve scored more than 26 points in the first nine minutes if not for four turnovers that the Timberwolves converted into five points. Edwards getting beat on the glass a pair of times for Denver scores, and McDaniels surrendering a pair of and-1s on reverse layups didn’t help, either.
Monte Morris looked spry and aggressive against his former team, collecting three steals with a winning combination of good hustle and quick hands, while also getting into the paint for a floater and a layup in moments Minnesota desperately needed to see the ball go through the net. The former Iowa State star is clearly off any hard minutes restrictions coming back from his hamstring injury, as he played a team-high 14 minutes off the bench in the first half.
Garza made another push late in the quarter after a tip-in at the first quarter buzzer. His five late points helped keep the score closer than what it felt like, 70-55, at the half. The Wolves’ bench had a big first half, scoring 22 of the team’s points, while shooting a combined 9/18 from the floor and 3/7 from deep.
Joker led Denver with 22 points and 10 boards at the break, but curiously had zero assists, as he was more of a scorer against a depleted frontcourt. Edwards had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists for Minnesota, who also got 10 from Garza. The game to this point felt like an ultimate final boss fight in a video game in the sense that you felt like the Wolves had to be perfect and make the most of every opportunity the Nuggets afforded them in order to even give themselves a chance to win.
Minnesota shot out of the halftime break like a cannon, very quickly racking up a 10-2 run against a Denver team that let their foot off the gas in a major way. Edwards scored a very quick five to catch another rhythm, while McDaniels finally saw another 3 go down; after making just one 3-pointer in the second quarter, Minnesota doubled that in the opening minutes of the third.
put it in reverse ⏮️ pic.twitter.com/0G82zgRg7Y
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 20, 2024
All of a sudden, the Wolves were back within seven, 72-65, before Murray banked in a crazy look from deep to get the lead back out 10 and put the Nuggets back on track so they could run away with it, right?
Wrong.
The Timberwolves just kept punching back in a way becoming of the collective never say die mentality of this team, on the back of another stellar third quarter from Ant.
Edwards, Anderson and McDaniels outscored the Nuggets 17-5 in the first 4:45 to get it back to within three points, the closest it had been since 16-14 with 5:57 left in the first quarter.
WHAT pic.twitter.com/5TA8DgGlDh
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 20, 2024
Minnesota did an excellent job keeping Denver out of the paint and inviting them to keep firing away on contested jumpers. Unlike the first half, the Wolves did a good job of rebounding and turning stops (turnovers or misses) into transition run-outs. The Timberwolves scored 12 points off six turnovers in the third quarter alone, breathing more confidence and energy into a dangerously loud crowd.
!#RaisedByWolves #NBA pic.twitter.com/VTi3afid2c
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) March 20, 2024
Ant drilled a go-ahead 3 with 2:16 left in the frame, but the Timberwolves missed three consecutive dagger-like jumpers on the next three possessions, and the Nuggets took full advantage, ending the quarter on a 5-0 run to take an 87-84 lead into the final frame. Edwards scored 14 of the team’s 29 points in the frame to resurrect a team and a building looking to do the improbable.
Edwards and Jokić both sit at the start of fourth quarters, so it was a role player battle early on in, with neither side able to build a lead. But it felt like with each successive Nuggets miss, Denver felt tighter, the crowd grew hungrier, and slaying Goliath felt like a more manageable task.
Enter Mike Conley. The 17-year veteran convert a pair of wild paint scores to retake a 92-89 lead, with a good rebound in between for good measure. Just as he did in the win over the Los Angeles Clippers last week, he sensed the team needed his scoring atop the fourth as Edwards fueled up for the final stretch, and Minnesota Mike delivered.
The stars for both sides re-entered at the 7:10 mark with Minnesota leading 93-89 and Denver immediately re-took a three-point lead behind a crowd-silencing, 7-0 solo run in just 70 seconds from Michael Porter Jr., who has been terrific for the Nuggets out of the All-Star break. Add in a rainbow triple over a defender from Jokić amidst Minnesota picking a bad time to go cold, and the Wolves looked down-and-out with 5:10 to play.
McDaniels wouldn’t go away quietly into the night, back-cutting for a huge jam on Jokić before draining a huge and-1 triple off, a great look from Edwards, to cut it to three with 3:21 to go.
But like any final boss fight, you have to control the controlables, and Minnesota failed to do that down the stretch. The Timberwolves missed three free throws in crucial spots and couldn’t knock down shots before the Nuggets’ lead was too big to surmount. Conley poured in seven straight (as part of 13 fourth quarter points for him) for Minnesota to extend the game as long as possible.
THAT’S OUR MINNESOTA MIKE pic.twitter.com/w7esYtsm0z
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 20, 2024
And Edwards, for as good as he was all night, fell asleep on a red hot Porter Jr. off the ball to immediately give back the McDaniels 3, which felt like the dagger. Ant gave the Nuggets probably 15-18 points between getting beat on the boards for scores, arguing with referees in a way that created a 5-on-4 that Denver capitalized on multiple times, and lacking intensity off the ball — a recurring problem this season. Superstars can’t let that happen, and that can be the difference between a win and a loss in the postseason.
On the offensive end, Edwards didn’t score in the fourth quarter for the first 7:05 he played in the quarter.
“They changed it up. They started blitzing me, when I’m catching it, they bringing one. So, just having to get off the ball and make the right reads, I feel like I did in the fourth,” Edwards explained postgame. “They did a great job of making me get off of it.”
After a McDaniels to cut the lead to just one, 113-112, with 5.6 seconds left, it opened the door for Ant to be a hero, wipe away all of his mistakes, and send it to overtime.
Ant was this close to sending the game to OT at the buzzer
Nuggets hold on and move into 2nd in the West. pic.twitter.com/0Aaj2eQQGD
— NBA (@NBA) March 20, 2024
The Nuggets walked away with a 115-112 win to even the season series at one apiece, with two left to play — both in Denver — over the Wolves’ final 13 games.
Jokić led all players with 35 points and 16 rebounds, but registered a season-low two assists. Porter Jr. added 26 of his own — including scoring 13 of Denver’s 28 fourth quarter points — while Murray chipped in nicely with 18 points and 11 assists.
Edwards scored 30 to lead the Wolves to pair with eight boards and eight dimes, while McDaniels chose an unreal time to break out of a shooting slump with 26 points on 9/13 shooting (including 4/6 from deep) and made life difficult for Murray. Conley delivered all 13 of his points in the final frame, to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Garza led all bench scorers with 11 points on 11 shots, and Anderson registered 12 points, four assists, three rebounds and three stocks starting in place of Gobert/Reid.
Minnesota is now a full game behind both Denver for the No. 2 seed and Oklahoma City for the No. 1 seed.
This story will be updated throughout the night after coach and player media availability.
Key Takeaways
A Very Moral Victory
It is difficult to start a fire without a spark. While most NBA winning streaks start with, well, a win, the spark for a good number of them can be found in moments of losses that have a somewhat delayed impact on the scoreboard. We may look back to tonight a couple weeks from now.
Every single Timberwolves player was upbeat after the loss. While the missed 3 evidently stung for Edwards, even he was quick to look at the positives of this game.
No one gave the Wolves a chance in this game, going up against the best player on the planet — who stands at 6-foot-11 and 285 pounds — without the three centers at the heart of their “play big” identity, playing on the second night of a back-to-back and often deploying lineups with very little experience together. Down as many as 18 in the first half, it felt like the second half might be window dressing with the result in hand by the break.
But the Timberwolves, just like the 18,000 incredibly loud fans in the arena, dug in and rose up and let the Nuggets hear them in the face of improbable odds. To even make it a game, let alone a wildly competitive final 17 minutes of hoops with major playoff implications on the line, is commendable. Let’s get into how they did it.
Jaden McDaniels, Best Supporting Actor
Ever since Karl-Anthony Towns went down with a torn meniscus ahead of the team’s six-game road trip, the Wolves have been in need of more from Jaden McDaniels. Entering play Tuesday, he had scored more than his season average of 10 points per game just twice in the six games without KAT, and prior to making a 3 at the buzzer in Salt Lake City on Monday night, the former Washington star had missed 13 straight 3-pointers.
The lid had to come off the basket at some point. He picked one heck of a time to take it off.
McDaniels made a wild floater on the Timberwolves’ first possession, which made you think a big night might be coming. From there, he impacted the game as a scorer in all the ways Wolves fans envisioned he might in this enhanced offensive role.
He took advantage of a Denver defense pre-switching everything on the perimeter and willingly drove at smaller guards, using his height and length to finish around or over smaller defenders. He cut off of Anderson and Edwards in the high post for scores. He stayed shot ready and knocked down four huge 3s. And when the defense closed out too hard, McDaniels drove baseline to finish at the rim or throw a corner kick pass to get the defense in rotation.
JADEN WITH THE JAM pic.twitter.com/m8Mnb58WBM
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 20, 2024
“Yeah, he’s got keep it clean, keep it simple. Get downhill, use his length, use his finishing ability – he’s got a great touch when he gets down there. He doesn’t need to overcomplicate it off the bounce,” Finch said postgame.
“It was good to see, really good silver lining for us is that he had a great game offensively, and he’s been struggling to find that touch and rhythm. Shot the ball well, shot it with confidence, made big ones. Kind of got us started offensively too by being down hill.”
For the most part, he took very efficient shots that he can consistently make, and really became a mismatch for the Nuggets defense. Therein perhaps lies the frustration that many have felt with McDaniels’ output so far this season. Nothing he did tonight felt unsustainable in any way. Jaden didn’t force the issue, but rather met the moment, played his game, and found success when he needed to score in lineups with limited offensive options.
While McDaniels won’t score 26 points in a game very frequently, there’s no reason he can’t significantly improve upon his scoring average while the Wolves are short-handed, and even when they’re back to full strength. Especially if he starts the second and fourth quarters in mostly bench lineups that need more scoring — something I’d personally love to see more of regardless of team health.
McDaniels driving against a small guard and finishing over the top, or collapsing the defense before throwing a kick-out or wrap-around dump-off pass to a big, is good offense, whether he’s out there with T.J. Warren and Luka Garza or Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.
But he has to do more of that, The fourth-year swingman is seventh on the team in touches per game (33.2) and receives the third-fewest passes (22.3) among rotation players, yet is fourth in points per touch (0.309), ranking behind Towns (0.414), Edwards (0.377) and Reid (0.345).
Doing more starts with frequent cutting to get the ball, corner crashing on the offensive glass, setting more screens to roll and get the ball in the middle of the floor, or simply floating out of the corner above the break to get the ball in a more assertive way. The excuse, “well no one passes him the ball,” may fit on some nights Edwards or Towns ball hog, but far more often than not it’s because McDaniels doesn’t do enough without the ball.
Jaden can truly unlock the true ceiling of the Wolves’ offense as a mismatch weapon, but only he can put together that puzzle.
Active Defense
Despite holding the title of the league’s top defense for pretty much the entire season, the Timberwolves haven’t been an elite team when it comes to forcing turnovers (14.1 per game, T-9 in NBA) or scoring points off turnovers (16.9 per game, 10th). Much of that can be attributed to mostly playing drop coverage, a conservative (yet very sustainable given Minnesota’s personnel) style of defense that plays the percentages, and limits corner 3s and rim attempts.
But without their three bigs, the Wolves flew around and caused all sorts of chaos on Tuesday night, much like they did in 2021-22, when they played a more aggressive coverage (high wall, or “at the level of the screen” defense) that helped the Timberwolves both 1) vault them to elite territory in the aforementioned metrics, and 2) make the playoffs and cause problems for Ja Morant.
Minnesota forced 17 Denver turnovers, tied for the Nuggets’ third-most in a game this season. Most of them came on the perimeter, where key Wolves defenders in McDaniels, Alexander-Walker, Edwards, and even Conley, McLaughlin and Morris got after it forcing turnovers with tremendous ball pressure and well-timed traps in pick-and-roll and dribble hand-offs. That forced erratic dribbling, tough passes, and opportunities to pounce.
“When you’re in a position we were, I don’t think you give up a whole lot. If you try to play toe to toe, you’re probably not going to win that one,” Finch explained.
“So you can junk up the game with different defenses or trapping or whatever, but first and foremost we just needed to junk up the game with some physicality and activity, and I didn’t see that in the first half.”
10 of those 17 Nuggets were live-ball turnovers, which helped the Timberwolves score 28 points off of them, also tied for their third-most in a game this season. They also bothered Jokić as a playmaker by taking away his airspace and passing angles with doubles, mixing up where the second defender came from. The Joker had more turnovers (three) than assists (two) for just the fifth time this season, but two of those five have come against the Wolves.
Even though this isn’t how the Wolves will primarily play defense with their full strength lineup, it is nice to know they can go small, make opponents uncomfortable, cause havoc, force turnovers, and run in transition to ease the scoring burden on on their half-court offense. That is something to file away for a playoff series.
“I think it’s very helpful. I think it’s a sneak peek of how we might have to play in different matchups, different games in the playoffs. Teams will go small to try and change the lineup with our bigs. You know, what are we doing when that happens?” Conley explained postgame.
“Now, we’re seeing what works, what drive-and-kicks look like, what plays offensively we have to kind of lean on. Usually we have two bigs or one big out there to roam and rim run and do all that, and now we have to drive-and-kick and make cuts and extra passes and really kind of dribble drive everything. Hopefully it’s another lineup for our group. It’s one night, but I thought we did a really good job of adjusting to who we had on the court.”
Everybody Eats
The Timberwolves rank 21st in bench scoring this season (32.2 PPG), but have upped that to 34.4 (11th) since Towns went down, highlighting how deep this team is and how ready the bench players are when their number gets called, even if the offense looks — different down three bigs — compared to what they are used to seeing in practice.
Luka Garza led the charge with a season-high 11 points for a bench unit that more than doubled up (27-13) the Nuggets’ reserves. Garza may be a limited defensive player, but he has the scoring talent to fill it up in bunches, regardless of who the competition is. The former Iowa star has seen rotation minutes in four of the team’s last five games and scored at least eight points in each game, largely because of his work from beyond the arc against bigs in drop coverage and on the offensive glass. But doing it against Jokić, after being thrown into the fire three minutes into the game, and handling it as well as he did was impressive.
“I don’t fear anybody. I feel like that’s the mindset you have to have. I know my role on this team since the beginning. I’m the guy that’s needed in emergency when guys are down, numbers are down and I gotta go out there and play hard and I always gotta be ready,” Garza said in the locker room postgame.
“Obviously I haven’t played all year at all. Now these last four games getting thrown into it, I’ve just been working this entire year to help this team when I’m out there. I still feel like there’s another level I can get to. All I know is I did everything I could. I played hard.”
Monte Morris played 23 huge minutes against his former team. He forced five turnovers (three highly impressive steals and took two charges), scored eight points on 3/6 shooting, dished a couple assists and, of course, did not turn it over. Morris delivered energy-creating play after energy-creating play (especially during his stints in the second, third and fourth quarters), and probably could’ve taken two or three more shots in transition had ball-handlers found him in the corners. But he played all the right notes, and it was encouraging to see him play 23 minutes in the wake of his hamstring injury that caused him to miss three of the six games on the road trip.
Up Next
The Wolves will get a couple of much-needed days off before regrouping on Friday night at Target Center to host a Cleveland Cavaliers team that will once again be without Donovan Mitchell. This time, it’s due to a broken nose.
Fans can watch the 7 PM tip on Bally Sports North and NBA TV.