The Nuggets are playing with fire now.
With a 117-108 home loss to the Timberwolves on Sunday, they dropped into fifth place in the Western Conference standings — the lowest they’ve been since the start of 2026.
Denver (37-24) still holds a potential tiebreaker over Minnesota after finishing the regular-season series with a 3-1 edge on its division rival, but the loss represented a threat to Ball Arena’s ability to host a first-round playoff series as it has in six of the last seven years.
The Nuggets have lost eight of their last 12 games. They’ll fly to Salt Lake City on Sunday evening for a back-to-back Monday against the Jazz.
They were led by Nikola Jokic’s 35 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists against Minnesota. The Timberwolves got a balanced scoring effort led by Anthony Edwards’ 21 and Bones Hyland’s 18. With a devilish grin, the former Nugget went 6 for 7 from the field in a proper revenge game, three years overdue.
Jokic entered the game with 117 combined points in his last two home games against Minnesota. The Timberwolves have generally been more content than other teams to turn him be a scorer, but in particular, the pick-and-pop 3-pointer is usually a shot available to him against Rudy Gobert’s drop coverage. In those two monster scoring performances, Jokic shot a combined 10 of 17 beyond the arc. But he came into Sunday’s game on a 15-for-54 (28%) slump over his last nine contests.
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"I think that every player has a little shooting slump or whatever (sometimes), so hopefully, I can get back on track and take the shots that I want to shoot,” he said Friday after a 2-for-10 performance. “Or take the shots that are high-percentage shots.”
Jokic attempted only four 3s against Minnesota, finding his touch from the midrange instead on a 15-for-26 night from the field. He carried the Nuggets to a 31-22 lead after the first quarter.
But Denver's age-old issues with him off the court resurfaced in Oklahoma City and didn't go away Sunday. The Wolves immediately assembled a 9-0 run to start the second frame. They were on their way to seizing control of the game, galvanized by Hyland and trade deadline acquisition Ayo Dosunmu. Quick guards like them have often been an Achilles heel for Denver's defense. Their aggressiveness in transition fueled Minnesota into the minutes when Jokic was back on the floor.
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Murray finished with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists on a 9-of-22 shooting day. Christian Braun's play continued to trend in the right direction with 15 points, six boards and a solid defensive impact.
But Cam Johnson, who was haunted by his missed game-winning opportunity at the end of regulation Friday, had the opposite of a bounce-back performance. He went scoreless on six shot attempts as Denver lost his minutes by 13 points. The rest of the starters were all a minus-three or better.
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