The Nuggets were one of the last three unbeaten teams in the NBA, but all good things must come to an end.
Facing the team they eliminated in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, the Nuggets had their first true dud of the 2023-24 season in Minnesota. The result was their first loss, a 110-89 blowout from the Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
The ghost of Bruce Brown
After the Nuggets won the title, the former sixth man Bruce Brown said Minnesota was Denver’s most difficult playoff opponent during a podcast appearance. The comment was perceived as a slight against the Nuggets’ other victims, but maybe Brown identified something legitimate on his way out the door.
Until Wednesday, Denver’s starters hadn’t missed a beat this season. When they shared the court, they had a 69.4% assist rate in the first four games. But the Timberwolves, inconsistent though they may be, at least have the size and defensive capability to make life more difficult for the champs.
Denver started the game 0 for 8 from the field and without a point when coach Michael Malone used his first timeout. Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert absorbed Nikola Jokic’s bumps and gave him a dose of his own physicality. Jaden McDaniels’ length on the wing neutralized the Nuggets’ guards early, especially Jamal Murray. Murray and Michael Porter Jr. shot a combined 1 for 14 in the first half. It was 48-35 before either of them scored.
It took Jokic 16 shot attempts and five turnovers to pile up 17 ugly points in the half, and the rest of the starters had combined for 12 points at the intermission.
New lineup
Minnesota is apparently also built big enough to make Malone change a substitution strategy that worked perfectly during Denver’s 4-0 start. For the first time this season, Jokic and Zeke Nnaji shared the court in a lineup designed to combat the Timberwolves’ size.
During multiple chunks of time spent together in the first half, Nnaji continued to be a bright spot (one of few this time). He scored seven early points and got after Minnesota a few times on the glass before slowing down statistically later in the game. That has been the story of the season so far for Nnaji: The numbers don’t exactly show a major impact player, but Nnaji is putting in high-effort minutes off the bench enough to affect games when Jokic needs rest — or, in this case, when Jokic needs more length on the floor with him to delegate responsibilities.
Malone’s two most-used words
The Nuggets don’t allow games to get out of hand often, but when they do, transition defense usually has something to do with it. Those two words have been (by unofficial count) the most spoken by Malone this young season, dating all the way back to the first practice of training camp when he identified it as an issue.
The Timberwolves outscored the Nuggets 14-2 in fast-break points during the first half while opening up their 20-point lead. They also outscored Denver by 10 in the paint during the disastrous half, largely due to those transition points. The Nuggets have been one of the most paint-dependent offensive teams in the NBA through a small sample size, so their inability to match Minnesota’s pace and aggression — the foul line also favored the home team — was costly. Anthony Edwards exposed defensive lapses with multiple blow-by dunks, amassing 24 points on 15 shots.
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