It wasn’t the way the Denver Nuggets thought their season would go, and there will likely be consequences as a result.
The Denver Nuggets dropped Game 6 on the road vs the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-98 in incredibly dispiriting fashion. Denver won the first quarter but let go of the rope a bit heading into halftime down 57-50. The Nuggets made an early push in the third quarter and tried to close the gap throughout the fourth, but the Timberwolves never once relinquished the lead, playing with more heart, physicality, and grit when it mattered most.
Despite missing Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu, and Kyle Anderson, the Wolves outplayed the Nuggets and imposed their will on Denver in important ways. Leading the way and backing up the talk was Jaden McDaniels, who dropped 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 stocks in nearly 45 minutes played. He was dominant on both ends of the floor from start to finish, and the Nuggets didn’t have a single player who could disrupt him on either end of the floor.
On Denver’s side, Nikola Jokic had a solid performance of 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 10 assists in 43 minutes. He didn’t come out of the game in the second half until the Nuggets were playing foul games, and he brought it in the third quarter trying to will the Nuggets back into this one with his scoring.
Cam Johnson went with Jokic, putting up 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists in an elimination game on the road. He was poised, impactful, and did what he was asked to do. That’s a major credit to a player who was questioned by many throughout the season about whether he had the poise to do what needed to be done.
Jamal Murray did not get going though, and that proved to be the difference. Murray had just 12 points on 4-of-17 from the field, shooting just 0-of-2 from three. McDaniels was absolutely plastered to Murray for much of this game, and in the opportunities Murray had to free himself up, he missed some very critical shots that made a big difference in the clutch moments. Denver needed their other half of the two-man game, but Murray didn’t make the shots, play the defense, or make the scrambling plays necessary to help Denver win this game.
In a critical Game 6, the Nuggets were out-rebounded 50-33. Jokic, Johnson, and Murray combined for 23 of those boards. Spencer Jones and Christian Braun had just three rebounds between them, while the Nuggets entire bench combined for seven.
There were points when Denver’s hustle was good, but there were also points when the Wolves were simply too athletic and physical for the Nuggets to deal with. Minnesota lost their guards to injury, but they were replaced by players like Terrence Shannon Jr., Jaylen Clarke, and more minutes with bigger, athletic bodies on the floor. It would’ve been nice for Denver to counter with Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson, but they were in no condition to match that level of physicality with the injuries they sustained.
And yet, those are merely excuses. The Nuggets knew this series would be difficult. They knew what they were signing up for. They knew what it would take to match and exceed Minnesota’s level.
Unfortunately, the Nuggets lost the thread of this series in the first four games. Yes, losing Game 6 was the nail in the coffin, but it was the arrogance they played with in Game 2 and the lack of urgency they played with in Game 4 that set up this failure.
The Fallout
There will be plenty of time to react to the off-season, make sweeping proclamations, and decide where to go from here. That’s not what this article is about.
Here’s what needs to be said at the outset: this season was a flat out failure across the board from the Denver Nuggets.
From top to bottom, the Nuggets shared confidence about how things would go in the playoffs. They dismissed various defensive concerns, cited injuries as an excuse for not reaching a higher level in the regular season, and never fully acknowledged the clutch struggles they had throughout the regular season might actually mean something. There were signs along the way, signs that the Nuggets wouldn’t be great when they go punched in the mouth, especially if they didn’t have their full team at full strength.
But how many teams can reasonably say they’re healthy in these playoffs right now? The Oklahoma City Thunder lost Jalen Williams to another hamstring injury but swept the Phoenix Suns anyway. The San Antonio Spurs lost Victor Wembanyama to a concussion and won a game without him and won the series in five. The Los Angeles Lakers missed Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves but are currently up 3-2 in their first round series (we will hope the Houston Rockets can pull off that 3-0 comeback).
None of those teams let injuries be their excuse, their downfall, their reason for not digging deep and finding a way to play better anyway. It is truly a wonder that the Nuggets have been so frustrated and sad about not having Aaron Gordon for some games in this series or Peyton Watson for the first round.
So. What.
Life is hard. The NBA playoffs isn’t for the weak of mind or feint of heart. The Denver Nuggets were both of those things in this first round series against an extremely competitive but extremely injured and undermanned Timberwolves team that they simply should not have lost this series to. Flat out.
This was an abject disaster, and there will be changes.
Everyone in the organization will be forced to look in the mirror after this. The plan simply wasn’t good enough, and the execution was even worse. So, how does each individual that took part in these failings react to that? Will they blame others and look outward at what others should have done? Will they take accountability and look inward and ask whether they did absolutely everything they could to be ready for the 2025-26 gauntlet? Moreover, will the Nuggets players, coaches, executives, and ownership be willing to make the changes necessary to be a champion again?
For a long time, I’ve heard from the Nuggets that they know how to win because they have championship DNA, former title winners who know what the process looks like and how to “flip the switch” when necessary. That’s out of here. There cannot be anymore of that sentiment from this team if they’re serious about going through this process again. Not from the coaches or players. Not even from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, neither of whom shot anywhere close to or defended well enough in this series to capably lead a championship squad.
So, who’s ready to face the hard realities of the failures that happened this season? Who actually wants to be part of the changes in the Nuggets organization that get them back to that point?
Time will tell.
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