Wednesday's primetime NBA slate featured a faceoff between two Western Conference powerhouses in the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. The matchup had serious playoff seeding implications, with the winner sliding into first place in the West.
The Nuggets were looking for revenge because in the last game between the two, the Timberwolves embarrassed the Nuggets in front of their own home crowd. The Nuggets would end up getting their revenge, beating the Timberwolves 116-107. The season series would end up being split 2-2.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was fresh off a 51-point game against the Washington Wizards. Not only would the Nuggets need to step up their game against the Timberwolves, they would also need to find a way to generate points against the best-ranked defense in the NBA. The Nuggets defense was up to the task and held Edwards to 25 points. They also were able to keep Edwards scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Nikola Jokic took charge of the Nuggets offense with a dominant 41-point performance. On top of scoring 41 points, Jokic would notch 11 rebounds and seven assists. With another performance like this, Jokic further adds to his case for NBA MVP. However, when asked about potentially earning his third career MVP award, Jokic deferred and changed the focus to the Nuggets team as a whole.
“I think I'm playing good basketball. The team is playing good basketball,” Jokic told ClutchPoints. “I think there is a lot of guys playing really good basketball in the league and a couple of guys deserve to have that award.”
Nuggets bench in a dunking mood vs. Timberwolves
The Nuggets young bench players really shined in the Western Conference bout. There has been some criticisms of the Nuggets bench and their consistency. But in a huge game, they had no problem stepping up to the occasion.
Peyton Watson was a huge part of the Nuggets' defensive effort as he led the team with six blocks. Watson, along with teammate Christian Braun, would have multiple rim-rattling dunks over the Timberwolves tallest and best defensive player, Rudy Gobert. The dominant dunks not only energized the Nuggets, but provided them with the necessary momentum to close out the win.
“They were great,” Jokic said of his teammates via ESPN. “P-Wat, it seemed like he was all over the place. He was just full of energy. And C.B., that sequence of two minutes, it was really amazing. I was happy for those guys. I think they don't get enough credit what they are doing on the floor, and they're helping us energy-wise, effort-wise. We need them.”
While the win against the Timberwolves was big, the remaining two games for the Nuggets are must-wins if they want to lock up the first seed in the West. The Nuggets will face the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies, both of whom have already been eliminated from postseason contention.
“The process is come to work every day. Get better. Don't be satisfied,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “I'm most proud of the fact that as a reigning world champion, we haven't been satisfied the whole year. You gotta stay hungry, because you've got 29 other teams right behind us trying to take what we have.”
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