The Minnesota Timberwolves stormed back from a 19-point first-half deficit to take down the Denver Nuggets 119-114 in Game 2 at Ball Arena on Monday. The Timberwolves struggled offensively at the start of this game, but then found their rhythm, and Jaden McDaniels was asked postgame how they managed to get going.
“Go at [Nikola] Jokic, Jamal [Murray], all the bad defenders,” McDaniels said, via The Timberwolves. “Tim Hardaway, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, their whole team. Just go at them.”
That was an interesting comment. McDaniels, who had 14 points (7-15 FG), two rebounds, and three assists in Game 2, was then asked whether he really believes they are all bad defenders, and he does.
“Yeah, they’re all bad defenders,” McDaniels stated.
Now, Aaron Gordon certainly is not a bad defender. You could argue Gordon is actually one of the best at his position.
The Nuggets also have other good defenders on the team, like Spencer Jones and the injured Peyton Watson, but there is no denying they struggled on that end of the floor in the regular season. Their 116.0 defensive rating ranked 21st in the NBA. None of the nine teams below them made the playoffs. Even the much-maligned Los Angeles Lakers were slightly better than the Nuggets with a 115.5 defensive rating.
“They don’t got people that can defend the rim,” McDaniels said. “And if [Jokic] is there, we still more athletic than them and just got to be able to finish when we do.”
Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic is great at a lot of things, but defense isn’t one of them. Jokic and his backup, Jonas Valanciunas, have never been exceptional rim protectors. The Timberwolves have managed to take advantage of that. They’re averaging 53.0 points in the paint per game, which ranks third in these playoffs. They had 54 in Game 1 and 52 here.
As for Jokic’s co-star, the Timberwolves have targeted Jamal Murray on switches. Murray is a better defender than the Serb, but he is hardly some defensive stopper. These two have unsurprisingly been put in pick-and-rolls and need to do a better job defensively. They’ll also have to play better in the fourth quarter than they did here.
Jokic went 1-7 from the field in the fourth while Murray went 1-5. Their struggles down the stretch helped the Timberwolves tie the series 1-1 and steal home-court advantage.
Anthony Edwards, as always, led the way for the Timberwolves with 30 points (10-25 FG), 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and two blocks. Julius Randle impressed as well, recording 24 points (7-14 FG), nine rebounds, and six assists. If Randle can consistently churn out these kinds of numbers, the Nuggets are going to be in a bit of trouble.
That Timberwolves defense, led by McDaniels and Rudy Gobert, is good enough to contain any offense to an extent. If they can score 120-odd points a night, they’re going to be very hard to beat.
You’d still have the Nuggets as the favorites in this series, but they have to win one of these next two games in Minnesota. If the Timberwolves go up 3-1, it is all but over.
Game 3 is at Target Center on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. ET.
