Winning in the NBA is really hard. Winning in the playoffs is even harder.
But in the first quarter, the Denver Nuggets were making it look easy. They clamped the Timberwolves on several possessions, saw the ball flying around and hitting open three-point shooters, converting four-point plays, getting the crowd into it.
Quite simply, they were having a lot of fun.
Until it all came crashing down soon after.
The Nuggets lost 119-114 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 to even the series at 1-1. After going up 39-25 in the first quarter, the Wolves took back control of the game through hot shooting, grit, and a litany of Nuggets errors. Denver played loose with possessions on both offense and defense, and that lack of execution came back to bite them in a major way.
“We just weren’t solid,” head coach David Adelman shared postgame. “I thought they attacked our feet. Randle in the pick-and-rolls was tough. They moved the ball side to side, put us in rotations.”
“There’s human nature to everything. You try to ride emotion, but you have to remember it’s a 48-minute game.
After Denver’s 39-25 first quarter, they lost the second quarter 39-25 in a clear parallel, resetting the game heading into the second half. The Nuggets took a lead into the fourth quarter but didn’t push it up high enough, and the Timberwolves retook the lead in the fourth quarter down the stretch.
Of course, the Nuggets had plenty of opportunities to win this game if their leading two-man game executed at a high level. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined to shoot 2-of-13 from the field in the fourth quarter, missing shots while being guarded 2-on-2 by Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert almost exclusively. Denver’s stars got tired and didn’t execute their actions, while Minnesota continued to run their offense and generate good shots down the stretch to separate right at the end.
Murray can and should get a pass there, despite taking a very curious stepback two-pointer with about 10 seconds to go and the Nuggets down by 3. He missed, and the Timberwolves converted on a huge win for them and a massive missed opportunity for the Nuggets.
It’s Jokic that has to bear the brunt of the criticism here. He ultimately had 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists compared to 3 turnovers, which sounds good on the surface. Unfortunately, he shot just 8-of-20 from the field and 1-of-7 from three, including multiple airballs. He had an opportunity to tie the game with a floater down the stretch but elected to pass out of a floater and dish to Christian Braun under the rim. Braun got fouled and converted just one free throw, leaving the Nuggets in a bad position to end the game.
“I should have taken the floater,” Jokic admitted after the game, passing he felt Anthony Edwards step up and thought Braun was more open for a layup than he was. “We had two free throws. It’s not a bad ending, but I definitely should’ve shot the floater.”
Up until that point, Jokic had several opportunities to go at Rudy Gobert in 1-on-1 situations, but outside of an incredibly surprising dunk, Jokic had barely any success in those situations. He appeared uncomfortable challenging Gobert and rarely went directly at him, instead choosing to fade away and go around him while avoiding extra contact. Not an encouraging close to the game for the best player in the world.
And yet, this is nothing new for the Nuggets and Jokic in Game 2 specifically. The Nuggets are 7-10 in Game 2’s in Jokic’s career specifically, and they’ve now lost the last four they’ve played. All have come after a Game 1 that was close. This is simply something the Nuggets are liable to do in the series matchups they’ve played lately, and it hints at a larger problem:
The Nuggets still haven’t learned their lesson.
Whether it’s Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon (who was subpar on Monday) or anyone else involved, this is exactly how the last three years have gone. The Nuggets are exceptionally talented, clearly good enough to win a championship if they remain focused and go through the process correctly. There’s no denying that.
What’s also become apparent though is the level of confidence they have has also become detrimental to the steps they’re supposed to take to be a title contender. Contenders can’t get stuck in a long first round series. Contenders understand how important every game is and approach them accordingly. Contenders DO get caught up in emotional first quarters sometimes, but they’re always able to recover and steady the ship in time to stick the landing in the clutch.
The Nuggets just turned what could’ve been a short series into a long one. They won’t acknowledge that publicly because they have respect for the Wolves. They just weren’t showing it in the second quarter when the Wolves went into absolute desperation mode, and the Nuggets responded by taking a bunch of fun three-pointers, running up in down and transition, and allowing Minnesota to save their entire season.
The lack of killer instinct from Jokic in particular was surprising. He’s supposed to be ironclad in these moments, understanding the momentum and flow of a game and reestablishing the Nuggets whenever he senses the momentum slipping. It was clear that Murray had little left to give down the stretch after he got hot early in the game and made a bunch of plays for himself and teammates. That fourth quarter is supposed to be Jokic’s moment, and he responded by going 0-of-6 in the fourth quarter until that absolute hammer dunk against Gobert down the stretch.
While that moment was cool, it simply wasn’t enough. Others could’ve stepped up around him too, but Jokic is the best player in the world and rightfully treated to those standards. He faltered in the fourth and missed a massive opportunity. It was tailor made for him to have a clutch moment, and it didn’t happen.
So, Jokic and the Nuggets get burned again. They probably won’t take both games in Minnesota in Game 3 or 4. It’s not a guarantee that they get a single game. If the Wolves defend homecourt, there’s a chance the Nuggets return back to Denver down 3-1 in a dire situation. That’s unlikely to happen either, but Denver opened up that can of worms by relinquishing homecourt as they often seem to do.
Denver has a day off, then flys to Minneapolis on Wednesday before playing Game 3 on Thursday and Game 4 on Saturday. There’s going to be a long way between now and then. Maybe that will offer enough opportunity for the Nuggets to reflect on this and regain some killer instinct heading into a hostile environment.
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