The Denver Nuggets suffered arguably their most crushing defeat of the season on Tuesday, losing 140-139 in double overtime to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Ball Arena. Russell Westbrook’s late-game blunders played a big part in this loss, and he was seen arguing with a Nuggets fan after the game.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 2, 2025
The fan appeared to say something to Westbrook as he was running into the tunnel. While some players wouldn’t bother responding in that situation, the former MVP has never fallen into that category.
Westbrook has gotten into plenty of verbal altercations with fans over the years and has made it clear he won’t tolerate any sort of disrespect. As for what that individual might have said, it almost certainly had something to do with what the nine-time All-Star did in the final moments of this game.
Westbrook appeared to have won the game for the Nuggets when he stole the ball with under 15 seconds remaining. The hosts were up 139-138 at that stage, and he just needed to hold on to the ball.
Instead of doing that, though, Westbrook went for glory. He passed the ball to Christian Braun on a 2-on-1 fastbreak, and then blew the layup when it was thrown back to him.
Giving the Timberwolves another chance at winning the game would have been bad enough, but Westbrook then fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker as he attempted a game-winning three-pointer. Alexander-Walker then made two of three free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining to give the Timberwolves the win. You can check out this whole sequence below.
A FOUL ON THE FINAL THREE-POINT SHOT 😱
THIS SEQUENCE IS INSANE. pic.twitter.com/IBysO7j0Em
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 2, 2025
Talk about a gut punch. It wasn’t just the fans who were incredibly frustrated by this turn of events. Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon walked off the court before Alexander-Walker even attempted his final free throw.
Aaron Gordon just walked off the court 😭😭😭
Bro gotta be FUMING at Russ 💀 pic.twitter.com/PAHZwI1QWe
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) April 2, 2025
You do sympathize with Gordon here, as he had played so well. The 29-year-old had 30 points (9-15 FG), eight rebounds, five assists, and a block against the Timberwolves. Gordon had scored 12 points in the two overtime periods and would have thought the game was in the bag. Unfortunately, the Nuggets snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
As for Westbrook, he has 12 points (4-11 FG), six rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and two blocks against the Timberwolves. It wasn’t a great performance, but he could have so easily become the hero if not for those blunders.
Nikola Jokic And Michael Malone Refused To Blame Russell Westbrook For The Loss
While Westbrook has been ripped online for his blunders, Nikola Jokic and Nuggets head coach Michael Malone refused to blame him for the loss. Jokic, who made history with a 61-point triple-double against the Timberwolves, stated postgame that going for the layup was the right decision.
“It was a layup, it was 2-on-1…they were chasing us to get a foul,” Jokic said. “I think it was the right decision to do, probably.”
Malone, meanwhile, made it clear postgame that you can’t just put this loss, which dropped the Nuggets to 47-29, on one player.
“I know who Russell Westbrook is,” Malone said. “He’s a guy that hates to lose…he’s a perfectionist and he’s a competitor. Knowing Russ the way I do, he’s probably going to put a lot of this on him. But we lost tonight, the Denver Nuggets. We as a collective group lost a game tonight, not one player.”
Westbrook will be putting the loss on himself and will be keen to make amends for it. He’ll get his chance soon enough as the Nuggets take on the San Antonio Spurs at Ball Arena on Wednesday at 9 PM ET.
