All season long the movie was the same: Denver seemed apathetic and played just well enough to keep things close for three — maybe even three-and-a-half — quarters, then they would flip the switch, lean into the Jamal Murray/Nikola Jokic two-man game and pull away late for the win. There was nothing opponents could do to stop them.
Minnesota has stopped them.
More than that, the Timberwolves have shook the Nuggets.
The league's top-ranked defense just put on an absolute CLINIC in Denver.
— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2024
🔒 11 STL
🔒 12 BLK
🔒 34.9 OPP FG%@Timberwolves go up 2-0! pic.twitter.com/8ijLOs8yyX
Two games into the Western Conference second-round series, Minnesota’s defense has rattled the Denver offense — and they did it Monday night without Rudy Gobert, who missed the game following the birth of his son earlier that morning. The Nuggets shot just 34.9% overall, 9-of-30 from 3 (30%) and grew increasingly frustrated as the game wore on, to the point 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 their emotions and now leads the series 2-0 — with both wins on the road — after a 106-80 victory.
Teams that won the first two games on the road in a playoff series are 36-5 overall. The only other NBA champion to lose two games at home 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.
Nobody should question the resolve of the defending champions. However, it’s fair to question if they can come back and make this a series.
Part of that has to go to the Timberwolves defense, which was the best in the NBA over the course of the regular season and they have turned it up to 11 in the playoffs. They have elite perimeter defenders — led by Jaden McDaniels, but across the board with Anthony Edwards strong on that end of the court — 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 right, his calf is clearly hampering his game. Murray had eight points on 3-of-18 shooting in Game 2 and is not moving well. Without him, the Murray/Jokic two-man game that earned the Nuggets a title is no more. He was able to overcome it against the Lakers, but he can’t against the length and athleticism of the Nuggets defense.
Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns led the way for the Timberwolves scoring 27 a piece (KAT also had 12 rebounds). Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each scored 14 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 of his Nuggets.
They need to answer that in a resounding way in Game 3 or this series is over. It feels like it might be anyway.
