Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Jaden McDaniels sends a message to the Nuggets after Minnesota’s Game 2 win

Remember when Michael Jordan, via propagandadized Last Dance tapes, said the sign of a good man is when he can talk trash when they are tied or down?

Well, Jaden McDaniels coldly taunted the Nuggets after the Minnesota Timberwolves’ epic road comeback that tied round one (1-1). He has no respect for their defense, and he called players out by name when answering questions in the locker room.

“Go at  [Nikola] Jokić, Jamal [Murray], all the bad defenders. Tim Hardaway [Jr.], Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, their whole team.”

Woah — if that’s not the wake up call the Nuggets need, then they’ll find themselves as a pile of bones in the Wolves’ den.

Jokić was hunted, and the team didn’t pressure enough catches behind the 3-point line. It would be one thing if McDaniels’ comments came from someone who didn’t have too much experience playing Denver in the playoffs. But he was already a big factor on a team that beat them in 2024. He didn’t play in their first-round series in 2023, which Denver won, because he foolishly broke his hand by punching a wall before the playoffs started. Rest assured he knows exactly what the Nuggets are made of.

So far, McDaniels has been Minnesota’s fourth best player in the series plus third-leading scorer (15 points on 44.8 percent shooting), and he’s been better than every opponent not named Jokić and Murray. It doesn’t help Denver either that Peyton Watson, who hasn’t played since April 1 after re-triggering his hamstring injury, hasn’t been available to chase McDaniels around or make him backpedal.

Circumstances like Watson’s, Jonas Valančiūnas not being a dependable backup, and Spencer Jones being caught in too many mismatches, have turned coach David Adelman into Michael Malone since he doesn’t trust the bench. As a result, Murray and Jokić are leading the series in minutes at 41.1 and 40.2. 

As the series shifts to Minnesota, the Nuggets need more scoring out of Gordon, even if it means he’s a release valve, waiting for the kick-out pass. On top of that, Jokić has only made 18.8 percent of attempts outside of the lane through two games. Plenty of those are great looks, and he needs to be sharper if he wants to lead this team to the next round because they can’t afford for his offense to be below standard with how much of a liability he is on the other side.

Keep in mind that Anthony Edwards is also shooting 21.4 percent on shots outside of the paint for Minnesota. The Nuggets will be in even bigger trouble if he snaps out of it before Jokić.