There has been tension in the air in this first-round series between the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves, and it finally exploded in Game 4 on Saturday. With the Timberwolves cruising to victory, Jaden McDaniels broke one of the NBA’s unwritten rules and enraged Nikola Jokic in the process.
Instead of dribbling the clock out with time winding down, McDaniels opted to score with a layup with 1.3 seconds remaining to give us the final score of 112-96. Jokic did not take kindly to that and confronted the Timberwolves forward, which kick-started an all-out brawl.
TIMBERWOLVES/NUGGETS ENDS IN A BRAWL pic.twitter.com/ohtwEVCDh2
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 26, 2026
Julius Randle particularly got into it with Jokic, and they were both unsurprisingly ejected. This was out of character for the Serb, but his frustrations boiled over there.
Jokic has not been at his best in the series and wasn’t all that great here. The three-time MVP had 24 points (8-22 FG), 15 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and one block as the Nuggets went down 3-1.
Jokic has delivered plenty of times in the clutch for the Nuggets over the years, but he had a horrendous fourth quarter here. The 31-year-old did put up six points, but was 0-6 from the field and 0-2 from beyond the arc.
With the Timberwolves losing both Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo to injury in the first half, the Nuggets had been presented with a golden opportunity to regain home-court advantage in this series. They have squandered it and are now on the brink of elimination.
McDaniels seems to have gotten into the Nuggets’ heads as well. After Game 2, he claimed that everyone on the Nuggets is a bad defender. They had brushed off those comments then, but Jokic’s reaction here indicates they were bothered by it.
As for McDaniels’ play on the night, he had 12 points (4-11 FG), eight rebounds, three assists, and one block. He came through for his team in the fourth quarter with eight points, but the biggest reason the Timberwolves got this win was one Ayo Dosunmu.
Dosunmu had 43 points (13-17 FG), four rebounds, one assist, and one block off the bench. Acquiring him from the Chicago Bulls at the Feb. 5 trade deadline sure worked out for the Timberwolves.
While Dosunmu might never have this good a game in the playoffs ever again, the Timberwolves will need him to step up moving forward. DiVincenzo has torn his Achilles, and it doesn’t look like Edwards will be back soon.
The Timberwolves will be counting on him, McDaniels, Randle, and Naz Reid to carry the load in their absence. You’d imagine they’d be able to win this series without them, as the Nuggets just look like a shell of their former selves.
Jokic hasn’t given us any reason to believe he is going to turn things around. He is now shooting 39.1% from the field and 18.5% from beyond the arc in this series, which is just horrible. Jokic has widely been regarded as the best player in the NBA for years now, but that might no longer be the case once this series is over.
Game 5 will tip off at Ball Arena on Monday at 10:30 p.m. ET. Will the real Jokic show up? The Nuggets would be hoping so.
