There wasn’t much time for build-up, but with what little there was, the superstars representing Denver and Minnesota offered contradictory perspectives on the Battle for First Place.
In Minneapolis, Anthony Edwards didn’t sugarcoat it. “I think everyone knows what is at stake,” he said. “I don’t even need to talk about how big it is. Everybody knows.”
Halfway across the country in Utah, Nikola Jokic’s tenor was more … bored. “I don’t think it’s a really big game,” he said. “Yes, we’re going to go out there and play to win the game, of course, but I think people are just making their stories that it’s a big game. Hopefully it’s going to be interesting.”
After both played the previous night, the Nuggets and Timberwolves met in the middle Wednesday for a stirring regular-season climax that ended in a cathartic dunk contest between Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. Denver pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 116-107 win in front of a playoff crowd at Ball Arena, breaking the tie atop the Western Conference standings.
With two games to go, the Nuggets (56-24) are positioned to clinch home-court advantage until the NBA Finals if they win both. The Timberwolves (55-25) still possess a potential tiebreaker after a 2-2 season series split thanks to their superior division record, but Denver is firmly in the driver’s seat with upcoming games in San Antonio and Memphis.
Jokic might have put the finishing touches on his third career MVP award with 41 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists on 16-for-20 shooting. Jamal Murray added 20. Aaron Gordon had a season-high nine assists. Braun posterized Rudy Gobert with his left hand late in the fourth, then followed it by finishing an alley-oop seconds later.
Edwards scored 25, but none in the fourth quarter.
The only scenario in which these teams could see each other again before the Western Conference Finals is if Oklahoma City (55-25) steals the No. 1 seed from Denver this weekend. The WCF would be more fitting anyway, based on the quality and intensity of basketball played Wednesday. Defensive play-making was outstanding for both sides in a tooth-and-nail first half. The second-unit minutes are one of the scariest aspects of this matchup for the Nuggets, but the defense of Braun and Watson ensured those minutes were suitably ugly for both benches, not just Denver’s. Watson topped a career-high with six blocks, punctuating the last one with a dunk.
But the Timberwolves compensated by tormenting the defending champions’ starting five with their length. Denver went to halftime with nine turnovers, including three from Murray, disrupted again by Jaden McDaniels. In one great sequence, McDaniels and likely Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert combined for a stop against Denver’s two-man game at the end of the shot clock, then flipped it into an easy transition bucket courtesy of McDaniels’ behind-the-back assist.
The stars went takeover mode in the third quarter. Jokic started bullying Gobert in the post. Edwards kept on beating Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with his explosive first step, getting KCP into rare foul trouble. Edwards scored 15 in the frame while Jokic soared past 30.
As for Jokic’s declaration that this wasn’t such a big game, the two-time MVP was caught red-handed in the first quarter. The emotion on his face after he sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key wasn’t even reminiscent of his typical passionate moments. It was less of a bellow, more of a snarl, as if to signify the indignant attitude of a Nuggets team ready to get on with the playoffs, finally.
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