The Nuggets’ road trip to Minnesota was a failure, and they fell 3-1, on the verge of an early vacation, at the fangs of the Timberwolves. Keep in mind that Donte DiVicenzo tore his Achilles tendon a few minutes into the game, and Anthony Edwards couldn’t proceed in the second half after grotesquely hyperextending his left knee.

The Nuggets had Aaron Gordon, who missed Game 3, back wounded with a calf injury. He played 23 minutes and it was 23 minutes too long because he rarely showed any burst to pressure the ball or had lift on his legs to attack. 

Ayo Dosunmu gutted the Nuggets with 43 bench points on 76.5 percent shooting and was the main story of the game, and Rudy Gobert did another fine job of slowing down Nikola Jokić.

Yet, late-game foolishness is partially overshadowing the outcome: Jokić didn’t like that their gracious hosts were going to run up the score, so he charged at Jaden McDaniels by the sideline, getting in his personal space and forcing him to put his hands up to shove. Naturally, the Timberwolves’ bench being steps away was not pleased, coming forward, which is a violation that causes a suspension. Yet the NBA has not always enforced it.

Complaining about the score is soft, especially when the king of drop coverage hurts his team, being such a poor and unwilling pick-and-roll defender. Keep in mind that he’s also been way below standards on offense, too, making only 39.1 percent of attempts, being uncareful and not the same volume of playmaker, in part because of how hounding the Wolves have been on his teammates.

It’s unclear how the new head of NBA discipline James Jones will rule, but he should suspend Jokić. If someone did what he did to another on the sidewalk or in another public place in front of law-enforcement, good chance they’re getting booked with battery.  Athletes shouldn’t get away with doing things normal people can’t for the sake of entertainment or somehow them being special. 

One could even interpret the situation as him trying to be a martyr by causing a reaction from Minnesota’s bench. Still, the potential for making things worse in that regard should be weighted against him in the verdict. 

Jokić’s behavior was unbecoming of a champion, especially one of his status. 

Coach David Adelman thinks “it’s hilarious that the narrative is offense doesn’t matter. If you shoot 24 percent in the second half, it’s hard to win.” Of course it matters, but he should more worried about how his team knew they couldn’t hang with the Wolves.

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.

Extra days of rest can be a blessing or a curse, and it was no help for the first-seeded Detroit Pistons in Game 1. They started sloppily, and the Orlando Magic, who had wiped out the Charlotte Hornets to advance to round one on Friday, opened with more vigor and mental focus, upsetting them.

It took most of the first quarter for the Pistons to wake up, and then they started making the Magic pay for turnovers and bad shots, plus had forced Desmond Bane into multiple contested, fallaway jumpers. The hosts were even in the bonus with nine minutes left in the first half, but the Magic were carried by Paolo Banchero’s mid and long-range scoring, and the team had shut off easy access into the lane.

The Magic subsequently survived a flurry, and their defense took further advantage of their opponents lacking a second high-level shot creator. Wendell Carter Jr. also contained Jalen Duren, and the Magic took a seven-point lead going into the fourth quarter. 

Franz Wagner emerged as the go-to guy, ripping up schemes on the dribble and was immaculate on five attempts. Carter didn’t miss on three rim attacks, either.

The Magic won 112-101, and it was coach Jamahl Mosley’s first road playoff victory, too.

Observations:

•  It never turned into a blowout, but it was an embarrassing performance by the Pistons, which the Magic deserve credit for. Still, when a team gets shown up like that, they are usually a powerhouse in the next one. The Magic will need to match their mental sharpness and avoid being satisfied with a split because they can make this series ugly. They have two potent shot creators in Banchero and Wagner when they play like this, and their defenses’ size and physicality is comparable to Detroit’s. 

• The Magic struggled to make 3-point shots consistently and had poor ball security, so they got killed on the break as a result. Their defense was dominant, holding the Pistons to 102 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 13th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. Yet the only downside was that they fouled too often, allowing the Pistons to take 38 freebies, making 29.

• The Magic’s two best games of the season have been in highly pressurized situations, which included the elimination game they thumped the Charlotte Hornets into the lottery. Could they have turned a corner overnight? The picture will be clearer by the time the series shifts back to Orlando.

• Some stars will do what they want, either turning into a scorer or passer against whatever scheme, and Cade Cunningham was no different, totaling 39 points on 48.1 percent shooting, with five rebounds, four assists and three turnovers. He’s a big, strong point guard with a quick first step, and 14 of his points came in the lane.

• The starters scored between 16 and 23 points, but the X factor was Carter, who made 88.9 percent of his attempts and had five assists against zero turnovers. On top of that, Jalen Suggs was a pest on defense, racking up three steals and a block. He later fouled out with 93 seconds left in the game while the Pistons were on life support.

Coach Jamahl Mosley’s job was on the line, and the players made sure to keep him around for a little longer. 

The Orlando Magic put the squeeze on the Charlotte Hornets early with prison ball defense that blew up actions, plus they ravaged the lane like a band of marauders sacking a castle. Paolo Banchero atoned for Wednesday’s dreadful performance against the Philadelphia 76ers by turning into a raging bull, and Wendell Carter Jr. played a big part in breaking open the game. 

Perhaps it was the Magic playing like world beaters at home because they had no choice. Or maybe it was cosmic forces putting a stop to the Hornets after LaMelo Ball wiped Bam Adebayo out of Tuesday’s Play-In Tournament game, and the Miami Heat lost a close one without their captain. 

The game, which determined the eighth seed, was out of reach before intermission, mentally extinguishing the Hornets who were slower to react to loose balls and get back in transition. Ball was lucky the refs weren’t enforcing carrying violations, and he still followed up his go-ahead shot against the Heat by showing up when it was too late, instead of entering his first playoffs, in his sixth season. 

The snowball effect had Miles Bridges so frustrated he even pressed on Desmond Bane’s neck when trying to get up after going for a loose ball. This time, the officials were not blind like Tuesday’s crew and didn’t make the colossal mistake of missing something below the belt.  

How ugly did it get for the Hornets? Well, let’s just say a fresh carcass puts up a better fight against a shoal of piranhas. The Hornets had their seat warmers on in the charter before the third quarter was up, too.

Repeated trips to the line, and Goga Bitadze’s four blocks were some of the little things that kept the Magic’s motor running while they had a large lead. 

It should have never gotten to this point, but now the Magic will play the first-seeded Detroit Pistons — the team they were expected to be. They played with controlled rage against Charlotte, but maintaining that over a seven-game series against a team as rugged, feisty and athletic as the Pistons could be like trying to beat the feds in a RICO case.

With Orlando’s frontline of Banchero, Carter, and Franz Wagner, against Detroit’s Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart, round one will have heavyweight action in the trenches that fans cannot miss. 

The Magic will need Banchero to avoid turnovers and be unrestrainable when he puts his head down on the move. Additionally, Bane, Wagner and key reserves will need to do a lot of the heavy lifting as well. Getting all of that at the same time is practically asking for an arm and a leg because the Magic have been the opposite of a contender. 

They’ll have a day off before taking on the Pistons in Game 1 on Sunday. The hosts will have rested their bodies, minds and souls for six nights. Keep in mind that only six eighth seeds in NBA history have upset the favorite.

The Heat were iced in overtime by the Hornets in Charlotte and sent to the draft lottery. They went most of the game without their captain, Bam Adebayo, thanks to LaMelo Ball cheaply and flagrantly taking him out by swiping his foot while he was off balance, causing him to fall hard on his tailbone. Yet they held on until the last seconds. 

Kel’el Ware and Davion Mitchell stepped up being inside and outside threats, and Andrew Wiggins did all the little things in the trenches while giving them a big-time scoring punch. They even had Wiggins at center, next to Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson to maintain their speed, and they defended well without fouling plus didn’t get killed on 3-pointers. 

Jaquez started the second half for Adebayo, setting the mood with aggression. Additionally, Ware turned into Bill Russell for a spurt, rejecting shots into transition, and Mitchell was the source of offense in the fourth quarter. 

Their problems were containing second-chance scoring and dribble penetration from Ball, plus Coby White’s 3-point eruption. On top of that, they made a critical mistake late in the fourth quarter while up six points by doubling Ball, allowing Brandon Miller to nail a trifecta before White made a fallway shot in the corner to tie. 

The Hornets controlled the pace in overtime, exposed the corner and baseline and didn’t miss a shot in the lane late. But it was all drama: Herro made a fallaway corner triple and then caused Ball to foul him in the corner immediately on the next possession when the Heat got a steal. They took the lead by one, but Ball reclaimed it for Charlotte on a curling catch-and-go move, and then Mitchell got denied on a last second fastbreak attempt by Miles Bridges.

The Heat lost 127-126 after 17 ties and 16 lead changes. One would’ve presumed that it was going to turn into a blowout without Adebayo’s presence, but they went down with class. Their worst stretch of the game was getting outscored by eight in the third quarter.

The Hornets will now play the loser of Wednesday’s seven and eight game, and the Heat are left pondering their future. If this season proved anything, it’s that they need to get better on defense by being bigger, stronger and faster. 

Ware can be a top-level big man with more seasoning. The next step for him is sharper pick-and-roll defense, so he and Adebayo can be a potent duo. 

Mitchell resembled vintage Kyle Lowry in the loss, and he has always been a keeper, who should remain the starting point guard. The prerequisites for taking that spot are superior scoring without help and on-ball disruption. 

Some will depart, and the right youngsters will continue to develop; the team should continue to ride it out with them instead of trading for an All-Star who will have to do more with less. They’ll now also have their highest pick since either 2019 (13th) or 2017 (14th), at least, in what is expected to be a deep draft.

They need to realize that there is no quick fix into getting back into contention, unless Shaquille O’Neal, the Big Three or Jimmy Butler walk through the door.