The Minnesota Timberwolves have built a team that can rise to the occasion, as evidenced by the past two seasons where they made it to the Western Conference Finals. Back in 2024, they were the team that dethroned the then-reigning champion Denver Nuggets, and it helps that they have one of the greatest defenders in the history of the NBA in Rudy Gobert to take on the Nikola Jokic matchup.
On Sunday night, the Timberwolves posed trouble yet again for the Nuggets, taking a 117-108 win away from home thanks to a masterful well-rounded performance. Jokic did have himself a night, recording 35 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists, but that is simply to be expected from the three-time MVP regardless of who's guarding him.
But the Timberwolves will gladly celebrate taking a win even though Jokic stuffed the stat sheet as he usually does. And Gobert said the quiet part out loud regarding Minnesota's defensive strategy against their division rival.
“I always think team. It's hard for people to understand sometimes he might score 40. But if he scores 40 and they don't score 100 points as team, that's a win for us,” Gobert said, via Dane Moore of Blue Wire. “It's really trying to limit him as much as I can, but trying to limit them as a team as much as I can. Sometimes I might not be guarding him directly, but even when I'm not guarding him directly I'm guarding him.”
Asked Rudy Gobert what his process is for assessing himself individually in matchups against Nikola Jokic.
"I always think team. It's hard for people to understand sometimes he might score 40. But if he scores 40 and they don't score 100 points as team, that's a win for us.… pic.twitter.com/QFHpF550eX
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) March 2, 2026
Timberwolves take anti-Nuggets strategy to extreme
There are two trains of thought when playing the Nuggets. Teams can either decide to stop Jokic and let his supporting cast beat you, or vice versa. The Timberwolves have made it a focal point of theirs to let Jokic get his if it meant shutting down the rest of the team.
This defensive gambit of theirs worked. Jokic went 15-26 from the field and popped off for 35, but the rest of the team couldn't go band for band against the Timberwolves. On the other hand, the Nuggets sold out to stop Anthony Edwards, but the Minnesota supporting cast stepped up.
