30 March 2024
What was supposed to be a heavyweight bout Friday in Denver quickly resulted in a no contest.
The Timberwolves delivered an early-round knockout of the defending champs, dropping the Nuggets 111-98 to reclaim the top spot in the Western Conference and give themselves the inside track to the No. 1 seed with just two weeks to play in the regular season.
Minnesota (51-22) is now even with Oklahoma City in the standings and owns the tiebreaker over the Thunder thanks to a better Northwest Division record. The same will be true with Denver (51-23) — who’s currently a half-game back of both teams — even if the Nuggets win the final regular-season meeting between the two teams on April 10.
So Minnesota owns both head-to-head tiebreakers and only could potentially lose out on the top spot in a three-way tie situation. That’s why Friday’s tilt was so massive. And the Timberwolves delivered a resounding message for all around the league to hear: The West may very well run through Minnesota.
The Wolves have won seven of their last eight games, with six of the seven victories coming via double digits, including impressive triumphs over the Clippers, Cavaliers and now the Nuggets.
“Our goal remains to play our best basketball heading into the playoffs. And if that allows us to finish first, second, third, whatever. That’s what it is,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told reporters. “But we’ve got a lot of big games coming up against teams playing for a lot, as well. So it’s exactly the test that we need coming down the stretch.”
The Wolves blitzed Denver from the get-go Friday. They led by as many as nine in the opening frame and opened the second quarter on a 12-4 run to go up 15.
The lead ballooned to 26 in the third quarter.
Denver edged Minnesota 115-112 just 10 days prior, but that result came on a night where Minnesota was missing Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert, on top of Karl-Anthony Towns being out. The Wolves were literally center-less.
“It was kind of a revenge game, and then wanting that No. 1 seed again,” Wolves wing Jaden McDaniels told reporters. “That was the big key, knowing we could be No. 1. So everyone came out ready to play.”
Towns, of course, was still out Friday, as was Denver star guard Jamal Murray. But Gobert’s presence made all the difference for the Wolves. The center finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots while engineering another masterful team defensive performance.
Everything Denver did offensively was difficult. The Nuggets — who pride themselves on ball and player movement — simply couldn’t operate on that end of the floor. Denver shot 40% from the floor and 29% from deep.
“We’ve got that defensive mindset. We’ve got an individual mindset that we’re not going to let our guy score on us. And you can sense that down the bench,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said in his postgame television interview. “When guys are playing that way, you get the energy picked up a little bit, and defense can travel. So that’s how you win on the road.”
MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 10 rebounds but just five assists, and he shot 11 for 24 from the field. Minnesota has done a better job than everyone else this season of eliminating the distribution that makes Jokic so special.
The big man averages nine assists per game but has 10 total in three games against Minnesota. Nuggets fans and analysts on social media noted again that Minnesota matches up better than anyone else with Denver.
The reasoning for that belief in the past was centered on Minnesota’s sheer size with Gobert and Towns. And that obviously helps. But Minnesota continues to give Denver issues even without Towns’ presence.
The Timberwolves’ length and execution suffocates Denver.
“They’re the defending champs, but we’ve got all the pieces,” McDaniels said. “Everyone on our team is versatile and can guard one through four, one through five. So, it’s a good matchup for us, but I think we’re the better team.”
And offensively, Minnesota’s balanced, heavy ball movement approach continues to hum, as it has for weeks. Conley continued his recent dominance by scoring 23 points on the strength of 5-for-6 shooting from deep. Anthony Edwards scored 25 points, including five late free throws as Denver desperately tried to claw back into a contest in which it was never competitive.
McDaniels added 17 points. Minnesota was just 9 for 28 from deep, but a blistering 63% on two-point attempts, including going 9 for 14 on non-paint two-pointers.
In three meetings, Minnesota now owns two blowout wins over the Nuggets and a narrow defeat in which the Wolves were down three bigs.
The current standings may very well reflect the current truth: The Timberwolves are the best in the West. And they only appear to be getting better.
“We’ve still got a ways to go. We’ve experienced some ups and downs along the way, but this team has experienced a lot, we’ve fought through injuries, we’ve fought through some losing streaks, some winning streaks,” Conley said. “Figuring out how to sustain winning is tough to do, so this group is learning, and hopefully we’ll put it all together at the right time.”
Said Gobert: “It’s our time to show ourselves what we’re capable of.”