All season, the movie was the same: Denver looked listless and played well enough to keep things close for three – maybe even three and a half – quarters, then they flipped the switch and leaned into Jamal Murray/Nikola. Two-man game from Jokic and pulls away late for the win. There was nothing the opponents could do to stop them.
Minnesota stopped them.
More than that, the Timberwolves shook the Nuggets.
Two games into the second round of the Western Conference, Minnesota’s defense rattled Denver’s offense — and they did it on Monday night without Rudy Gobert, who missed the game after the birth of his son that morning. The Nuggets shot just 34.9% overall, 9-of-30 from 3 (30%), and became increasingly frustrated as the game went on, to the point where Jamal Murray threw a heat pack on the floor during live play.
“I thought we lost control of our emotions tonight,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
Minnesota kept control of its emotions and now leads the series 2-0 – with both wins on the road – after a 106-80 victory.
Teams that win the first two road games in a playoff series are 36-5 overall. The only other NBA champion to lose two home games to start a series was the 2011 Los Angeles Lakers to the Dirk Nowitzki-led team of destiny in Dallas that season. The Mavericks swept that series.
No one should question the determination of the current champions. However, it’s fair to question whether they can come back and make this a series.
Some of that must go to the Timberwolves’ defense, which was the best in the NBA throughout the regular season and turned it up to 11 in the playoffs. They have elite perimeter defenders – led by Jaden McDaniels, but generally with Anthony Edwards strong on that end of the floor – a tight system and elite rim protection behind them (especially when Gobert plays).
However, another part of Denver’s struggles is this:
Jamal Murray is not well, his calf is clearly hampering his game. Murray had eight points on 3-of-18 shooting in Game 2 and isn’t moving well. Without him, the two-man game between Murray and Jokic that won the Nuggets the title no longer exists. He was able to overcome that against the Lakers, but couldn’t against the length and athleticism of the Nuggets defense.
Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns led the way for the Timberwolves by scoring 27 each (KAT also had 12 rebounds). Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each scored 14 points off the bench.
Aaron Gordon had 20 points and Jokic had 16 points and 16 rebounds for Denver.
“You feel embarrassed. You feel exposed. What are you going to do about it?” Malone asked about his Nuggets.
They need to answer that in forceful fashion in Game 3 or this series will be over. It seems like it could go either way.
