Another primetime Sunday matchup against a Western Conference contender. Another disappointing loss indicative of a team playing it’s worst basketball of the season.
For a quarter, it looked like the version of the Nuggets that handled Minnesota 4-1 in the first round a couple years ago. Jokic and Murray were cooking in the two-man game, Ant was contained, and the stars were getting good contributions from role players Christian Braun and Bruce Brown.
And then we were all reminded about what a difference a thin bench makes as the competition level rises. Here’s how it went down.
1st Quarter
Nikola Jokic controlled the majority of the opening quarter. After the Wolves scored the first five (a theme that would continue in every quarter), the Nuggets reeled off an 11-2 run aided by bad Wolves’ outside shooting. Jokic and Murray scored 9 of the 11, and after a great Jok feed and finish by Bruce Brown followed by Nikola reversing over Gobert, the Nuggets led 17-13. Tim Hardaway’s Jr. triple following an empty Wolves possession then prompted a Minnesota timeout.
Hyland checked in for the first time with a clear bone to pick with his former team, knocking down a big three to stop the bleeding. Braun and Ant traded drives and dunks before Bones scored again on a running layup. CB hit a pair as the quarter came to a close (9 pts), but Ant drove around Jokic with :20 left to get Minnesota to within single digits at 31-22.
2nd Quarter
The second quarter was all Minnesota as Bones and the bench went to work on the Nuggets’ second unit. Hyland hit a step-back J followed by a three to close the gap, and after a pair of free throws for his 11th and 12th points, Dosunmu’s running layup tied the game and forcing Coach Adelman to call timeout.
Out of the timeout, Murray checked back in, but THJ led the scoring. He hit a pair after drawing a foul on Hyland, then traded jumpers with McDaniels, culminating in a pullup three for his 10th point. Bones answered back with a three of his own, leading all scorers with 15. The MVP checked back in around the six-minute mark, setting up CB for a wide-open three that missed badly. The first bucket for Randle then gave the Wolves a 42-38 lead, followed by an Edwards three and another Nuggets timeout.
The Nuggets upped the intensity, clearly intending to close out the half strong, but each burst was matched by the Wolves. Jamal got going with a couple buckets, and Jok’s jump hook and Strawther’s runner tied the game at 46. The Wolves put up five in a row of their own, though, until CB responded with a hard drive and foul down the lane (2/2 FTs). Randle’s straightaway three protected the Wolves’ lead at 54-48. THJ drew a foul in the closing minute to claw two back, but Ant’s full court layup in final four seconds sent Minnesota to the half up 58-50.
3rd Quarter
Like the first half, Minnesota threw the first punch to open the second half. Quick scores for Randle and DiVincenzo quickly inflated the Wolves lead to 13. Jok and Murray responded. The Joker banked in a jumper followed by a beautiful feed to Mal for a floater after Ant’s pull-up three. Murray’s reverse layup on the next possession got the Nuggets back to within 10.
The pace and defense amped up from there as the game took on playoff intensity. Nikola tied up Ant and won the jump, but Strawther blew a 3-on-1 transition opportunity. Ant and Braun traded layups before what felt like a huge three from Nikola, who’s been struggling from distance since returning. With the lead cut to 70-63, Murray drew a shooting foul and hit a pair, but again, the Wolves responded with an 8-0 run of their own including two DiVincenzo threes, his 4th and 5th of the game. Mal finally drew a fourth foul on McDaniels, converting 1 of 2 and Jok scored his 28th on a tough follow-up that gave him a double-double. His 30th point came on a cherrypicked lay-in after the Wolves couldn’t convert in transition.
The team traded baskets to close out the quarter with the Nuggets appearing to be building incremental momentum. Pickett got into the action with a pair of nice drives, and Jokic blocked Bones—who had no points in the quarter—then scored on a drive over reed for his 17th point in the 3rd. After a Brown layup with :30 left, the Wolves lead had dropped to 87-82. A Randall and-one followed by Murray’s missed runner, though, meant the Nuggets hadn’t made up any ground.
4th Quarter
Like the first three quarters, the fourth started with the Wolves being the aggressor. After a floating jumper from Reid and layup by Dosunmu, Adelman had to call a quick timeout, after which Cam missed a wide open three (0-4 in the game), which led to Naz hitting his open three in transition, a six-point swing that felt like a good metaphor of the game. Murray responded with an and-one to claw the Nuggets back to 99-92, but Naz matched with an and-one of his own, blowing by Cam again, who picked up a weak fourth foul. After another bucket on a step-through over Val, Reid seemed to have single-handedly put the game to bed as the lead ballooned to 104-92 with under 8:00 left.
Jokic checked back in and the Nuggets tried one last attempt at a meaningful run. The comeback started with Murray posterizing Gobert followed by a crafty post-up on Bones.
The team couldn’t follow through on the momentum, though, as they blew a turnover opportunity and missed another three, making them 5-20 for the game. A tough Ant pull-up triple with the shot clock running down gave Minnesota a 109-96 that felt larger.
The Nuggets responded first with a Nikola jumper and some scrappy, switching defense that earned them a stop. THJ then drew a foul but missed both before Murray drained a step-back three for his 25th point. Now within seven and three minutes remaining, Jokic blocked and stripped Randall at the basket. But, again, the Wolves responded to curb any chance at a one possession game. McDaniels hit a floater followed by Murray turning it over on an ill-advised crosscourt pass, all but ending the game. Ant missed a pair of meaningless free throws with a minute left, as the Nuggets pulled the starters.
FINAL SCORE: 117-108
GAME NOTES
- Nuggets fall to 16-13 at home, dropping to 5th in the West
- Minnesota had 38 points from their bench
- Denver has only beaten one playoff team in the last month
- Cam Johnson finished the game 0-6 with 0 points in 23 minutes
