The Denver Nuggets started fast, struggled in the second quarter, but got back on the horse and ran away with the game in the second half to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-114. Jamal Murray led the way with 43 points, Jokic had a triple-double with 25 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, and Tim Hardaway Jr. played a key role for Denver with his 20 points off the bench. The Wolves were without Anthony Edwards and just ran out of gas late, but Jaden McDaniels had 25 points and Julius Randle added 24 points and 7 rebounds. Denver and Minnesota don’t always have the prettiest contests, but they’re always pretty heated and in this one it was Murray going nuclear that sealed the win for the Nuggets.
Game Flow
The Timberwolves won the tip but missed the three-point attempt, and Aaron Gordon went right at Julius Randle for a traditional three-point play. Jaden McDaniels got free throws but Denver answered with a Jokic turn-around in the paint and more free throws by AG. McDaniels hammered home a dunk for the Wolves but Jamal Murray hit a nice running floater to make it 9-4 Denver early. Christian Braun buried a his first 3 of the season for Denver, and GordoNaz Reid n’s turnaround made it a 10-point lead. Jokic kept doing work inside and hit a short hook after Mike Conley free throws. Jokic hit another paint turnaround, Rudy Gobert hit a dunk, and Conley finished at the rim as Murray missed a layup and a three. Cam Johnson missed a three then flubbed a transition pass from Jokic, then Gordon botched a dunk and Braun missed a three to let Minnesota close to 18-14.
Terrence Shannon Jr. made a three out of a timeout to close it to 1, answered by Cam Johnson’s own three. Johnson then turned it over leading the break, and the next transition had Braun blocked by McDaniels. Watson also blew a transition finish as the Nuggets couldn’t buy a fastbreak bucket despite a ton of chances, and after a timeout Jokic went inside for back-to-back buckets to calm things down for Denver after going 1-for-11 in that stretch. McDaniels hit a 3 against Denver’s zone, Murray faked a pass then hit a floater and McDaniels answered with his own floater. Murray hit an elbow jumper, Randle hit a drive the other way, and after one Denver led 34-30.
Jonas Valanciunas missed a paint shot to open the second, Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a baseline jumper, and Bones Hyland made a corner 3 over Denver’s zone. THJ answered with a 3 of his own, and Bruce Brown had a great rim finish around a Big Val screen. Naz Reid and Jamal Murray traded buckets, and Donte DiVincenzo hit a three. Bruce Brown missed twice at the rim and it led to a Randle dunk and a timeout with Denver up just 44-41. Bruce had a poor turnover into the back court, Cam and Bruce botched yet more transition opportunities, and Naz Reid closed the game back to 1. Gobert picked up his third foul of the half, Gordon missed a jumper and DiVincenzo gave the Wolves their first lead of the game at 48-45. Randle made a pair of buckets to take the lead to 8, while Jokic hit an amazing behind the back pass to Cam Johnson for a finish. The Nuggets couldn’t buy a stop though as Donte and McDaniels hit buckets, then McDaniels made another one after Jokic made another shot. Gordon got a dunk off a Jokic pass, but the only defense played that quarter was by the shot clock at the end of the half that prevented yet another 3 from the Wolves as they led at halftime 65-57.
Jamal Murray hit a long 2 over Gobert to open the second half, answered by McDaniels over Gordon. Murray hit a curl 3, Jokic blocked Gobert then got the ball out for a Braun dunk, but Mike Conley stopped the run with a 3. Cam Johnson got called for a reckless closeout so DiVincenzo got three free throws and the ball while Johnson had to sit with 4 fouls and an apparent arm issue. Murray made a 3 and missed another, Hardaway and McDaniels exchanged two buckets each, and Murray’s free throws cut the lead to 5. THJ hit a corner three out of a timeout, then Murray hit another 3 to get the Nuggets the lead by 1 with his fourth three-pointer of the quarter. McDaniels got to the line for Minnesota, Jokic did as well after a Gobert block on Watson. The Nuggets got a take foul call to finish a 13-2 run, as Randle made a layup and Reid and Murray exchanged threes as Murray went completely nuclear in the third. THJ hit one as well off some great ball movement and then Gordon forced a Randle turnover that became a Murray backdown for another bucket. Jamal finally missed but Jokic grabbed the rebound and fed him for another bucket, but Denver couldn’t get any distance from Minnesota. Hardaway hit another 3, Big Val hit a turnaround, and after a quarter with almost zero defense Jonas blocked a Bones Hyland shot and Denver led 102-94.
Jokic and Cam Johnson came back in to start the 4th and Cam immediately airballed a 3. Gobert got his 4th point, Jokic had a turnover and Shannon got to the line for the Wolves on Cam’s 5th foul. Braun then turned the ball over, Bruce Brown couldn’t corral a steal and the refs blew a bunch of whistles to begin the 4th. THJ missed a corner 3, Shannon hit a finish for a 7-0 Minnesota run as Denver couldn’t do anything right until Jokic finished through Gobert. Braun missed twice at the rim, aiming for contact rather than finishes, but Peyton Watson got a steal and finish. Jamal came back in and immediately had a finish, then Watson buried a corner three to go up 111-101. Watson then buried the same 3 the next time down, Gobert got a dunk and Jamal answered in the paint for Denver. Jokic came back in and banked a runner through Gobert’s contract, Murray finished Jokic’s 9th assist with a transition bucket, and while AG missed an oop and then turned it over, Jokic turned a blocked Murray shot into a put-back finish as the Nuggets locked down this game. Murray hit another jumper, Jokic got his triple-double, and the Nuggets won 127-114.
Final Thoughts
-The Nuggets cannot be this bad on defense and go through cold stretches like their first half. Butchering attempt after attempt in transition, turning the ball over, and not running clean offense really hurt them. It’s not great that they need to put up 70 point halves all the time but reality doesn’t care about inconvenience. The Nuggets don’t have a defensive scheme that slows anyone down. Scoring is up in the first week of the season anyway but Denver has to outscore teams because they have no ability to get stops or control clutch time.
Their weapon right now is their offense and since their defense will allow other teams to get off open three-point shots at will (Minnesota took 18 threes in the first half to Denver’s 10) the Nuggets have to do a better job of converting their opportunities. The Nuggets had zero fast break points at the half despite many chances, and 11 assists to 9 turnovers while getting blocked 6 times just in the first 2 quarters. Denver is too inept on defense right now to let it carry over to their offensive decisions and execution.
-The offense really CAN carry them. Murray looks amazing – his offseason preparation is paying off big early in the year. The Nuggets were running drag screens and throwing the ball corner to corner to the top of the key for some remarkably open shots. In the past when players struggled they didn’t necessarily have any firepower in reserve to make up for it, but Tim Hardaway Jr. came on for Cam Johnson and ran all the same cuts and splits, hit threes, grabbed rebounds – he might be shorter but he filled the same role admirably with 20 points to pace the bench. Christian Braun struggled to finish but Peyton Watson had 12 in reserve, hitting corner threes and a pair of blocks. This is not a team that should ever struggle offensively if they hold to their principles like they did in the second half. Jokic is a killer, Murray and AG pace both halves of the court, but it’s the other guys who can slam the door shut every night just by filling their roles, and it was notable that Adelman trusted Hardaway and Watson to close after their key performances down the stretch. “Play well and you’ll play late” is a nice little bonus to offer a deeper squad with roles that haven’t been fully fleshed out yet.
-Nuggets finally beat the Wolves.
