Not content with one or two disastrous games, the Denver Nuggets added another ignominious chapter to one of the worst playoff series in their history, losing 112-96 to a Minnesota Timberwolves team that had both Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo go out with serious injuries in the first half. The Nuggets got into a scuffle at the end of the game after Jaden McDaniels scored in the final seconds with the game out of reach, and punches may have been thrown by Julius Randle and Bruce Brown while Nikola Jokic accosted McDaniels without any blows, but that was just about the only fight the Nuggets showed all night.
Jokic finished with 24 points on 8-for-22 shooting, along with 15 rebounds and 9 assists, but he was a -12 in his time on the court. Denver normally fares poorly when they lose the Jokic minutes and tonight was no different. Jamal Murray had 30 points on 25 shots but only 5 assists and as a team the Nuggets had just 21 assists. No other starter scored in double figures – again – and Denver’s bench was outscored 76-16.
Ayo Dosunmu had a career night, going for 43 points as he picked up the slack after the injuries to Edwards and DiVincenzo. Julius Randle had 15 points and 9 rebound while Rudy Gobert had just 4 points but 15 boards as the Wolves won the rebound battle by 12, the game by 16 and lead the series 3-to-1 as Denver looks as utterly hopeless and uncompetitive as they have in the entire Jokic era.
Game Flow
Julius Randle hit a jumper over Aaron Gordon to open the first quarter, while Jamal Murray missed a baseline pullup. Anthony Edwards buried a three, Murray missed a clean layup, Donte DiVincenzo missed a three but then Donte went down immediately with what appeared to be an Achilles injury and had to be helped off the court. Nikola Jokic hit a tough fadeaway over Rudy Gobert, while Aaron Gordon missed a couple of early shots short with very little lift on that injured calf. Jokic missed his next shot but tipped in the miss, while Jalen McDaniels buried a jumper to put Minnesota up 3. Joker made a jumper through contact that wasn’t called, then was pushed in the back on a rebound the other way. Gordon missed a wide open 3, Christian Braun couldn’t convert a drive and then fouled Julius Randle the other way for free throws. Jamal Murray hit a turnaround, Ayo Dosunmu made a corner 3 and Jokic hit a runner to make it 11-10 halfway through the quarter.
McDaniels had a tough putback on his own miss in the paint, which Braun answered with a three. Jokic got blocked by Gobert but got it back and finished to give Denver the lead at 17-15, but Dosunmu hit another three to take it right back. More bench players started to filter in as Bruce Brown hit a pullup, Tim Hardaway Jr. had a steal-and-finish and Bones Hyland answered with a Minnesota jumper. Naz Reid cleaned up a finish, Hardaway finished a layup off a Jokic assist, and Braun got blocked in the final second as Denver held a slim 23-22 lead after one.
Aaron Gordon missed his first shot of the second quarter but made the next one after a Reid three. Murray hit a turnaround three for Denver, Naz Reid had a putback over Brown, and Gordon missed another couple of shots without his normal lift on his attempts. Murray finished beautifully at the rim on a give-and-go, but Dosunmu answered right back. Murray missed a shot and Ant tried to go in transition but AG blocked him at the top and Murray ran out for a great finish. Dosunmu got free throws, while Joker hit a floater over Gobert that Dosunmu answered on the other end. Bruce Brown hit a push shot on the baseline, Murray blocked Gobert in the paint and Brown finished the other way for a 38-33 Denver lead. Spencer Jones missed a corner 3 but drew a travel on Randle with good defense. Jokic had the ball stolen and Dosunmu got back to the line, then Cam Johnson went for a herculean dunk over Gobert that was called a foul on Rudy that was upheld on review and put Cam at the line. He missed both but Denver got 2 offensive rebounds from Spencer Jones and one from Johnson to finally get a Jokic finish. Christian Braun hit a long two, answered by Reid. Cam Johnson finished in transition over Edwards and Ant went down in a heap clutching his knee. He too had to be helped off the court. Murray had a great finish layup past Gobert, Hyland had free throws, Gordon hit a three for Denver but Shannon answered with one for Minnesota. Aaron Gordon and Hyland traded paint buckets, Cam Johnson hit a last second three and Denver led at the half 54-50.
Cam Johnson stripped Ruby Gobert and finished the other way to open the third quarter, then Murray hit the tech that got called on Rudy’s complaint about no foul call. Rudy got a finish over Joker, Jokic threw a lob to AG but Gordon didn’t jump, though he did make the bucket. Conley and Randle traded buckets with Murray and Jokic, and Ayo Dosunmu tied the game at 63. Denver went to a zone on defense while both Murray and THJ hit threes for the Nuggets. Joker got to the free throw line after he was fouled on a steal, but Dosunmu hit yet another three in response. Denver had two brutal turnovers for Minnesota layups to cut Denver’s lead to 73-72. Jokic had free throws, Randle made a Minnesota layup, and then exchanged misses followed by some free throws left it tied at 76. Reid and Randle both had dunks as Denver turned it over again for an easy bucket, Cam Johnson got free throws but after 3 quarters Denver trailed 82-78.
Naz Reid started the fourth with a layup for Minnesota. Jamal Murray got fouled the other way for Denver and made both free throws, then hit a floater. McDaniels got a putback off a Jones block of Dosunmu, then yet another turnover for a layup put Minnesota up 90-82 and forced a Denver timeout early. Jokic had to come back in at the 9 minute mark, and immediately after Murray’s shot was blocked by Gobert. Mike Conley hit a Minnesota three, Jokic missed a layup and Dosunmu hit a shot from the free throw line to put Minnesota up 95-82 as the game started to get out of reach. Murray got to the line and made both, but Gobert’s shot kept Denver firmly in the ditch with their hopes for the series and the season fading. Jamal hit a three that Denver desperately needed, but then Hardaway clanked a corner three off the side of the backboard, Murray missed one of his own, and Jokic turned the ball over in transition. Jamal banked in a paint shot to cut the deficit to 7, and Denver’s defense finally forced some misses this quarter. Jokic missed in the paint over Gobert, Johnson bricked a transition three attempt, and Bones Hyland finished at the rim for Minnesota with under three minutes to go to put them up 101-92. Cam Johnson then immediately had a half-court violation for a turnover. Braun had a terrible turnover of his own, Ayo Dosunmu hit a three and that was the game. Denver lost the game 112-96, and most likely the series as well. A scuffle broke out in the final seconds and there might potentially be suspensions, but it’s not likely to matter to Denver either way since that was all the fight they’ve had in them for this series.
Final Thoughts
-The Nuggets are weak-minded and easily cowed. The Nuggets knew they needed this game. They came out fighting on defense, even if the offense wasn’t there. Denver scraped together leads in each of the first two quarters but never had another gear, never raised the level of their game. The Timberwolves came out after halftime with renewed fight despite the potentially serious injuries to two of their major players, including Anthony Edwards. Aaron Gordon gutted out a start for Denver but was ineffective and hampered and eventually had to cut short his minutes, but unlike the Wolves nobody stepped up for Denver. Cam Johnson, the main offseason addition and Christian Braun, who got a 9-figure extension, were nowhere to be found unless they were turning the ball over or complaining to the refs. They combined for 17 points on just 10 shots, never once inserting themselves into the game as Denver relied on Jokic and Murray exclusively in the second half. Tim Hardaway Jr. missed all 6 of his threes, and after a season, and thanks to a season of making sure never to find or play a power forward despite Aaron Gordon’s 30 missed games, there was no one available to help inside. At one point near the end of the game Denver was 9-for-34 in the second half with just 10 paint points to Minnesota’s 30. They had only 4 second half assists at that point. The ball was not moving, the players were not moving, and this Minnesota team showed more fight and heart than Denver knew what to do with.
Because this Denver team hasn’t shown any fight all post-season. Minnesota chased them down from a 19 point lead in Game 2 and then happily insulted Denver’s defensive effort in the postgame, and Denver did nothing. The Nuggets got dog-walked by the Timberwolves in Game 3, had no comment about their complete lack of effort other than to say they were a “veteran team” and would respond. Their response tonight said everything. Minnesota chose to fight through adversity and compete for one another, while the Nuggets abdicated all responsibility and lost the second half by 20. The squabble at the end of the game was even more pathetic because Denver took an insulting shot more personally than their continued wilting under pressure in another loss.
The team’s “veteran leadership” was nowhere to be found. Coach David Adelman had no answers, deer-in-the-headlights in a game where Chris Finch out-coached him, out-schemed him and out-inspired him. Denver looks like a bunch of individuals who don’t enjoy playing together and certainly have no intention of putting forth the kind of effort and self-sacrifice required to win three games in a row against a team that dares to defend them and play like it matters.
Because it very obviously does matter to the Timberwolves, who have goals they want to achieve and find the adversity a challenge to overcome instead of a reason to quit. The Nuggets look like they have already punched out on the timeclock and are heading for the parking lot to get into the offseason. If that’s the case, then several of them are not going to punch back in for next season in a Nuggets uniform, including members of the coaching staff. This performance – in fact, this entire series – is disgraceful from a team of purported contenders and if Jokic were still the best player in the world it would not be happening. But whether he is not the player he needs to be, for whatever reason that may be happening, or is not the leader this team can look to when times are tough, no one on this team is immune from criticism and everyone on this team needs to figure out why they bother to lace em up in the first place.
Right now, it looks like a team just going through the motions and it’s an insult to the fans that pay to watch and deserve at least a modicum of effort for that.
