Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Nuggets shook off their sloppy start and took Game 1 against the Timberwolves

There was no love lost between two rivals who eliminated each other in consecutive years (2023, 2024), and Game 1 was another archetypal affair that had the nastier defense take first blood. 

The Nuggets came out sluggish at home after five days of rest, and spent most of the first half digging themselves out of a hole caused by turnovers and the Timberwolves’ paint pressure. It didn’t help them that Aaron Gordon picked up his third foul late in the first quarter, and Jonas Valančiūnas was lit up in drop coverage, but they tied going into intermission.

They got back on track because Jamal Murray caused the first cracks in Minnesota’s lead by getting to the line, and Nikola Jokić’s playmaking and screening activated the troops like a quick whiff of smelling salts.

Jokić then changed the pace, turning into a scorer on a binge of paint strikes, and Murray’s flurry continued, yet Gordon’s hustle changed the tide in favor of the Nuggets. 

At one point, Jaden McDaniels tried to be an enforcer against Jokić, of all people, while Denver was on a 14-2 run by pushing him in the back and got penalized with an unsportsmanlike technical foul. It brought into question his temperament again, and keep in mind how he has cost himself playoff time by punching a wall, and breaking his hand, causing a season-ending fracture in 2023. His underhanded tactic only motivated the Nuggets to finish the period strong.

The Timberwolves subsequently found an opening back within reaching distance when Jokić took his final rest, which stagnated Denver’s ball movement. Coach David Adelman waited a few minutes into the fourth before subbing him back in, despite relying mainly on two reserves, and the Wolves successfully went at Jokić, too.

Yet Jokić laid some of the finishing touches by setting up his teammates, and the crew kept thriving at the charity line because of Minnesota’s inability to defend without fouling.

The Nuggets won 116-105 after six ties and eight lead changes. They held Minnesota’s offense to 104 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 17th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.

Observations:

• Edwards scored 22 points on 36.8 percent shooting. He was previously questionable for the game with a right knee injury, which caused him to only suit up twice in the last 10 days of the regular season. He may be occasionally dealing with discomfort, which will affect his potency but still has plenty of explosion. 

• The Nuggets shot poorly from deep (27.8 percent) and were sloppy at times with the ball, but made up for it with strong rebounding, as five of them logged between five and 13 boards, and they made seven mid-range baskets, plus were efficient in the lane. Jokić led the team with nine paint shots, of their 21.

• Murray set a new career high for free throw attempts (16) and makes (16). His previous high in the playoffs was 11 for both, set in 2019. He totaled 30 points on 31.8 percent shooting, with seven assists and five rebounds. Adelman said Murray has “got lot of responsibilities with a lot of different people guarding him that are high-level defenders that had a hold of his jersey throughout the night…”

• Despite Jokić having five turnovers, he still had a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is excellent, and had a triple-double (25 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists), making 57.9 percent of attempts on a team high of 40 minutes.