Game Flow
Aaron Gordon immediately attacked the hoop and got to the line. Donte DiVincenzo hit a three for Minnesota off a Rudy Gobert screen, and Cam Johnson missed a three but hit a finger-roll. DiVincenzo hit another three, Anthony Edwards missed his and Christian Braun couldn’t finish for Denver. The Wolves took a 10-4 lead on free throws and a bucket from Jaden McDaniels, then McDaniels had his foot in Jamal’s landing zone for a flagrant-1 and three free throws for Murray, who was limping briefly but seemed to avoid anything serious. Julius Randle hit a stepback, Cam buried a Denver three, Joker and AG missed theirs, but Gordon got back to the line for two. McDaniels hit a pullup then dunked after a Denver turnover, and Anthony Edwards made a three to put Minnesota up 21-12. The Nuggets struggled to make shots and had a couple of poor turnovers while Ant scored again driving the rim. Joker got hit in the face accidentally and made a three right after to stop the 9-0 run by the Wolves, but then turned the ball over for another dunk. Christian Braun made a corner three for Denver, then cut hard to the rim for a Jokic-assisted finish. Tim Hardaway Jr. came in and finished a transition oop but Ayo Dosunmu answered back with a corner three. Joker had a steal that turned into AG free throws as Denver clawed back to within 7 at 30-23. Gordon was called for an offensive foul, his third of the quarter, that Denver challenged and lost. Jokic had another bad turnover for a bucket – Denver’s sixth of the quarter – as the Wolves just played faster and harder than Denver early, and Denver trailed 33-23 after one. twitter.com/nuggets/status/2045596217435185531 Bruce Brown hit a Denver three to open the second quarter, answered by Naz Reid behind the arc. THJ hit a corner three for the Nuggets, Gobert put in a Bones Hyland miss, and Jamal Murray hit a nice step-back for his first and much-needed bucket. Jamal missed a three but Bruce Brown got the putback-and-foul as Denver closed to 38-34. Gobert finished on the other end, Murray hit another pullup, but Ayo Dosunmu hit a three to push the lead back to 7. Murray got to the line on a couple of trips down the court as he used Minnesota’s aggressiveness against them. He made the free throws to close the difference to 3 when Jokic came back in. Ant had a layup and Randle made free throws, but Cam Johnson had a great drive to the rack off a Jokic screen and then hit a three the next time down. Minnesota missed some threes, while Spencer Jones got fouled shooting his and his free throws tied the game at 47. Ant got free throws, Jokic hit a three, and Ant responded with a great finish. Julius Randle finished in the paint over Spencer Jones, but Spencer fired back with a three. Jamal Murray kept attacking and got free throws, then buried a jumper after a Gobert layup the other way. McDaniels hit a baseline reverse, but Murray attacked the paint for more free throws and had 14 points in the second to drag Denver back into this game tied at 62-62 at the half. twitter.com/nuggets/status/2045600484489335261 Jokic missed a shot to open the third quarter but an Aaron Gordon rebound turned into a Jokic layup. Jamal Murray hit an amazing baseline finger-roll, then Anthony Edwards was called for a push-off offensively and Jokic made a dunk-like finish past Gobert. Jokic got called for a couple of cheap fouls, just missed a three, then had a turnover that resulted in a Randle finish. Both teams struggled shooting outside for a bit until DiVincenzo buried a three to tie it at 68. Aaron Gordon decided to dunk instead of shoot and that paid off, while Gobert was called for a goaltend on Jokic. Gordon then got a rebound off a Jokic tip and hit a three the other way to put Denver up 75-68. Murray hit free throws as Denver continued to get to the line with aggression, then drove the hoop for a traditional-three-point-play as the Nuggets screened their guys open and drove hard while some good defense especially from Christian Braun keyed a 12-0 Denver run. Murray had a great pass off a drive to AG for a dunk, then Jokic was shoved in the back by a frustrated McDaniels on the other end for a technical foul after Jaden finally made a bucket for Minnesota. Joker made his free throw, Murray hit a great jumper, and McDaniels fired back trying to stem the tide with Denver up 85-72. Jokic had a great drive for a hoop, then a high-arc finish that Ant followed by a rim bucket. Jokic hit a floater in the final seconds, the Nuggets kept the Wolves to 6 made field goals in the quarter and Denver took the lead 91-79 after one. twitter.com/nuggets/status/2045611497725063586 Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert had buckets to open the quarter, while Jonas Valanciunas picked uo a couple of fouls, but Jamal Murray hit a jumper to answer. The Nuggets had a four-on-one transition broken up by DiVincenzo, and Dosunmu hit a three to cut Denver’s lead to 7. Jamal Murray missed a contested layup, Gobert screened hard on Aaron Gordon to get Ant open for a bucket, and Gordon attacked the bucket hard in response for a paint finish. Gobert finished in the paint, Christian Braun hit a long Denver two, and Gobert got a putback on an uncalled push-off to get Minnesota within 4. Dosunmu drove the baseline for a bucket and an extended 21-8 run for the Wolves until Joker finished through Gobert’s contact for a three-point play. Denver then forced a Gobert turnover and Jokic got a putback on a missed Murray three to get Denver’s breathing room back to 102-95. Braun hit free throws, Randle had a paint finish, and a Bruce Brown deflection turned into a Jokic-assisted Brown dunk to push it back to a 9-point lead. Ant got free throws, Randle made a layup and Denver went cold from the field. Jokic cleared the boards and Denver got a lucky bucket off a long carom and AG dunk, then Rudy Gobert got called for offensive goaltending. Randle fouled Aaron Gordon a couple of times, Denver made its free throws, and Cam Johnson hit a falling-down floating dagger as Denver took Game 1 by a score of 116-105 after a final minute Jokic transition bucket.Final Thoughts
-It took Denver a quarter to warm up, but once they got into it the Nuggets had more than Minnesota could handle. Denver had 9 first-half turnovers for 13 Minnesota points. Denver played Jokic on the perimeter and to be more assist-focused rather than on the block, partly to facilitate him getting back on defense especially without AG due to foul trouble, but the turnovers kicked off a transition game that mitigated Jokic’s positioning on offense in the first half. Jamal’s forward momentum was crucial in that second quarter, using Minnesota’s defensive aggression against them as he attacked looking to get buckets or to the line. Joker set some important screens and had great passes for buckets, and Denver’s role players made their open looks in that second quarter. Denver was +16 in made free throws for the game as the more aggressive team that forced the action, and the Wolves got rattled with some hard fouls as they tried to set the tone. Denver took what Minnesota gave them though, and won despite a relatively poor shooting performance from Murray, a quiet-scoring first half from Jokic and 3 early fouls on Aaron Gordon. Denver’s defense had significant stretches where they took care of business and limited the Wolves to contested perimeter shots, especially in the third quarter when Aaron Gordon got back in and wreaked some havoc on Minnesota. After 9 first-half turnovers the Nuggets took care of the ball much better in the second half with only 5 more turnovers, while taking the rock from Minnesota as the pressure ratcheted up. This was a good game to get the rust off and take the win anyway, while forcing the Wolves to come up with a new plan for how to steal one in Denver. Game 1 is in the books! Game 2 is Monday 4/20 at 8:30 PM.Recap: Denver Nuggets pull away to win Game 1 over the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-105 Mile High Sports.
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