Denver Nuggets basketball is officially back with their first preseason game of 2025 taking place tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves in San Diego, California. The Nuggets gave Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and their starters a half of run before going to the reserves in the second half of the game. The Wolves meanwhile rested several players, including superstar Anthony Edwards, but that didn’t matter as they took control early and never looked back. Former Nugget Bones Hyland had a big night while Denver never got a consistent effort and that ultimately led to a loss. Minnesota wins the exhibition game 125-116.

Both team’s offenses were expectedly clunky to start the game with a lot of iron being drawn and not much net. Denver got most of their points from the free throw line while Minnesota started knocking down shots which got them a small lead. Naz Reid led the way for Minnesota who pushed their lead up near double digits with just about half the quarter gone. The Nuggets continued to get opportunities at the free throw line but couldn’t get any stops on the other end. The Wolves lead grew to double digits while it seemed like every bounce went their way. Denver’s bench started to check in and they started to pile up turnovers. Jokic gave Denver some points to keep things from getting completely out of hand but at the end of the first Minnesota was up 40-28.

Jonas Valanciunas played some bully ball for Denver to open the second quarter and helped keep the lead around ten. The Wolves responded through Rob Dillingham and pushed the lead back up to seventeen. The Nuggets were able to stop the bleeding with the starters checking back in but they continued to struggle to get stops. Nonetheless they chipped away at Minnesota’s lead and with four minutes left in the half the Nuggets were down by nine. They couldn’t get closer than that with the Wolves working their way to the free throw line. Minnesota kept their lead in double digits heading down the stretch but Aaron Gordon got a couple buckets to keep Denver within striking distance. He along with Murray did the damage for the Nuggets to close out the second quarter and Denver went to halftime trailing 72-63.

Denver opened the second half with their usual starters resting. The reserve group dialed up the defense and went on a run to pull within six. They couldn’t find consistent offense after that though and started committing turnovers via offensive fouls. Bruce Brown got a couple steals to spark fast breaks that Peyton Watson finished. He was one of the bright spots of the game with multiple pretty finishes. Hyland heated up on the Wolves side which sparked an 8-0 run and pushed the lead back up above double digits. Denver’s deep bench started to check in and the Wolves lead continued to grow. Denver’s offense went completely cold after that and it was full on preseason basketball. It would eventually end up being fifteen straight points for Minnesota and more than five minutes without a point for the Nuggets before Hunter Tyson finally hit a shot. After three Denver trailed 96-80.

Denver got some offense out of the gate in the fourth, highlighted by a Zeke Nnaji stuff. The Nuggets trimmed the lead to twelve before they went cold from the field. Curtis Jones as well as Daron Holmes, got to see minutes and they played well. Tyson kept canning threes and Jalen Pickett got a couple buckets (including a fairly ridiculous buzzer beater). Denver stayed stuck on the double digit deficit barrier though with Minnesota getting just enough on the other end to keep the Nuggets at arm’s length, no matter how many crazy threes Pickett dropped to beat the shot clock. Tamar Bates and Moses Brown checked in to complete the Nuggets lineup being filled with the very end of the roster. Denver still trailed by a dozen or so with two minutes to go while Johnny Juzang got anything he wanted to go down for Minnesota. In the end the Nuggets were never able to catch back up from the early deficit and the Wolves win 125-116.