Wolves 119, Nuggets 116: Another Comeback Against Denver

After going down by ten points with just over three minutes left, the Wolves finished the game on a 15-2 to secure the win

After losing to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves find themselves in another rematch from last year’s playoffs, this time against the Denver Nuggets.

The last time these two teams faced off at Target Center was Game 6 of last year’s Western Conference Semifinals where the Wolves took down the Nuggets by 45 points.

With Karl-Anthony Towns and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope no longer on their respective teams from last season, the matchup may look significantly different this time around compared to last May. Chris Finch spoke pre-game about how much stock he puts into what happened last year in their matchups against Denver.

“I mean, we’ll see. I don’t pour a whole lot into last season when it comes to specifics with matchups and game plans and all that kind of stuff. Every year is a little different. Every team is different.”

Finch also talked pregame about Julius Randle’s ability to guard centers ahead of the matchup against Nikola Jokić.

“Well, he certainly has the physicality to match. The activity should be there too. Looking at his numbers when he’s guarded fives, they’re pretty good. He doesn’t have the length as much as KAT did but certainly can put his body on them.”

The larger question was whether or not Minnesota would go with last year’s strategy of putting the power forward, in his case Randle, on Jokić with Rudy Gobert on Aaron Gordon, allowing him to lurk off and help or if the Wolves plan to guard Jokić more traditionally with Gobert on Jokić and Randle on Gordon.

The answer to that question to start the game was Gobert guarded Jokić, a change from the defense that was so successful against Denver in the 2023-24 NBA Playoffs.

The Wolves continued their high-volume 3-point attempts to start this game, taking seven shots from deep over the first six minutes of the game, making four of them including this one from Anthony Edwards that got the crowd going.

The Wolves would lead 33-29 after the first quarter with the two teams scoring their points in incredibly different ways. The Nuggets scored 20 of their 29 points in the paint while the Wolves scored 21 of their 33 points from beyond the arc.

With Jokić on the bench for the final three minutes of the first plus the first few minutes of the second, the Wolves had the opportunity to build a lead against a Denver bench that has struggled greatly to start this season.

Minnesota would do just that, outscoring Denver by 15 points over about six minutes with the three-time MVP on the bench.

The Timberwolves lead would grow as high as 16 points before three straight Denver 3-pointers, including two from Gordon, cut the Minnesota lead down to nine. That would only be the start of an 18-2 run for Denver, tying the game at 51-51.

The Wolves would stop the bleeding with Edwards scoring nine of Minnesota’s final 13 points to close the half, giving them a 64-61 lead at the break. Edwards led the Wolves with 18 points with Randle not far behind with 15 of his own.

Gordon led the Nuggets in scoring with 19 points with the Wolves able to hold Jokić to just 9 points in the first half.

Gordon would continue his hot shooting coming out of the break, making another two 3-pointers, giving him four for the game. It is the most makes from deep in a game for Gordon since November 23, 2022, against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Timberwolves would respond with a run of their own, scoring seven straight points including this fantastic sequence from Gobert.

Minnesota would build a six-point lead at the end of the third quarter, giving the Wolves an opportunity to potentially put the game out of reach with Jokić on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter.

This time the Nuggets would not only survive the non-Jokić minutes but outscore the Wolves by two points. Denver would continue its strong play, outscoring the Wolves 27-5 over a seven-minute stretch to take a 114-104 lead with 3.5 minutes left.

The Wolves would elect to finish the game with Nickeil Alexander-Walker instead of Jaden McDaniels who had begun struggling on both ends of the floor. Alexander-Walker immediately made an impact, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws before an Edwards 3-pointer cut the lead to one.

After a couple of stops on defense, Edwards would get the ball again. Ant would drive past Michael Porter Jr. getting into the paint and putting in a floater to give the Wolves a one-point lead with just over 25 seconds left.

After another defensive stop, and two clutch free throws from Gobert, the Nuggets would get the ball back down by three points. With no timeout, the Nuggets would have to hurry the ball up the court. Jokić would shoot a contested shot from the corner that would come up well short giving the Wolves an incredible 119-116 win.

Edwards led the way for the Wolves with 29 points on 11-23 shooting including seven made 3-pointers. Randle added 23 points with Naz Reid leading the Wolves in bench scoring with 16 points.

Gordon, Jokić, and Porter Jr. combined for 83 points with Jamal Murray missing most of the second half in concussion protocol.

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Key Takeaways

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Rudy Gobert gets the defensive assignment on Jokić

One of the largest reasons the Wolves were able to defeat the Nuggets in the playoffs last year was their defensive alignment of KAT of Jokić with Gobert lurking off of Gordon to play help defense.

Now, with KAT no longer in Minnesota, the Wolves have decided to switch up that defensive identity, giving Gobert the primary defensive assignment on Jokić.

Chris Finch talked postgame about how their defensive plan went against one of the best players in the league.

“It’s the same as ever. doesn’t matter what you decide to do against the guy you got to fight. I thought Rudy did a really good job of being physical with him, trying to cut off his angles as best he could, challenge things, stayed out of foul trouble. He recovered to his pops. I thought he did a great job.”

Gobert himself talked in the locker room after the game about the defensive matchup with Jokić and how to slow him down as much as possible.

“I think just make him work. He’s going to make some tough shots, try to get his teammates involved and you’ve got to try to make his life difficult, make him work on both ends. I thought we did a good job tonight.”

Last season, the Nuggets were a great matchup for the Wolves because of their size on defense and Denver’s lack of a great defensive option for Edwards. On the offensive end, all those positives still remain, so if they can continue making Jokić work as much as possible, that will continue the keep the Wolves as a matchup nightmare for the Nuggets.

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

Nickeil Alexander-Walker saves the day

With the Timberwolves down by either with just over five minutes remaining in the game, Chris Finch decided to put NAW in the game to close the game instead of Jaden McDaniels. A decision that paid off beautifully as Nickeil scored all eight of his points in the closing minutes, saving the game for Minnesota.

Finch talked about what went into the decision to close the game with NAW.

“Nickeil has played some of our best, most consistent basketball through these five games. And I thought he played well today. I don’t even know how he shot it. I know, he made the two that mattered here. So it’s just energy just changes when he comes in the game.”

NAW coming in and turning around this game showcases the depth of this Timberwolves roster. Not many teams have a player like Alexander-Walker to put into a close game when one of the starting five is struggling.

NAW isn’t even the only player that can do that for the Wolves as Reid and Donte DiVincenzo can also make a similar impact coming off the bench.

Nickeil talked about his stellar play down the stretch of the game.

“I think it was important for us to like pay attention to the rest of like other parts of game. Like we were up for good stints and we had pushed out the lead to like I think it was like 14 at one point. So I knew if we just continued to play that way, we’d be all right. So me coming back later on that time was just play hard for the defense, fight, and just try to keep the pace going and do the things that gave us success.”

After a difficult preseason where Alexander-Walker tried to improve as a playmaker to potentially fill the backup point guard role, NAW has settled into the same role he had last year, making huge shots and defending at an extremely high level.

Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

Anthony Edwards continues his high-volume shooting from deep

Edwards, who leads the league in 3-point attempts, shot another 14 shots from deep, making seven of them. Edwards was asked if he had a response to those who say he is shooting too many 3-pointers he a classic Ant response.

Ant has made 43.4 percent of his shots from beyond the arc this season, so it is clear five games into the year the increased shot volume from deep is paying off. Ant also talked in the locker room about his new shot distribution.

“I’m not not like I’m not taking away my mid-range. It’s just, you know, teams are giving me the three right now. So I’m gonna take them. If they’re gonna give it to me, I’m gonna take them because I faith in it.”

The important aspect of Ant’s increased 3-pointers is not to sacrifice good 2-point shots, especially in close games late. It is good to see that with the game on the line, instead of putting up a bad shot, he got into the paint and hit a beautiful floater to take the lead.

That great shot selection late, along with both the increased attempts and makes from beyond the arc, give Ant the potential to have by far the most efficient scoring season of his career.

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Up Next

After tonight, the Timberwolves hit the road to play the San Antonio Spurs tomorrow night in their first back-to-back of the season. Fans can catch the game on FanDule Sports Network North with tip-off at 7:00 PM CT.

It will be just a one game road trip for the Wolves as they return home on Monday for a game against the Charlotte Hornets.

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Game Highlights