NBA
Nuggets Appear To Have Figured Out How To Dance With Wolves
If anyone doubts why Nikola Jokic won his 3rd MVP trophy this year, watch Game 4 of the Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves series. I’m not sure what’s more impressive: his footwork, the touch of his mini jump shot, or his keen ability to make no-look passes to Aaron Gordon.
May 13, 2024
As the Nuggets continue to figure out how to Dance With Wolves, they have turned around what once looked like a sweep into what may now become an epic seven-game series.
If anyone doubts why Nikola Jokic won his 3rd MVP trophy this year, watch Game 4 of the Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves series. I’m not sure what’s more impressive: his footwork, the touch of his mini jump shot, or his keen ability to make no-look passes to Aaron Gordon.
Speaking of Gordon, his stat line in Game 4 was insane: 27 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. At this point, we all know that Gordon hustles as much as anybody in the NBA. However, his willingness to bang bodies inside the paint and understanding of spacing make him the NBA’s most unique fourth option on any team. Simply put, he seems to always be in the right place at the right time, which has nothing to do with luck.
As for Jamal Murray, the real Jamal Murray has risen from the injury bin to breathe life back into the Nuggets. Murray, who was a shell of himself during the first two games, was the exact opposite of that during Games 3 and 4—scoring 24 in Game 3 and 19 in Game 4, adding eight assists and being the dominant floor general he can be. He also drained a 55 half-court shot at the end of the first half, which stunned and silenced the Timberwolves audience.
I wrote before the start of the series that if the Timberwolves were going to win the series, they needed to stop both Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon. At least in Game 4, they shut down Porter Jr., who only scored 4 points, but Gordon completely broke the Wolves' defense to the point that it seemed like the Timberwolves forgot Gordon was on the court.
From a strategic perspective, head coach Michael Malone did an excellent job making adjustments in the last couple of games, which freed up Jokic and Murray to work their high-pick-and-roll game to near perfection. In Game 4, they prioritized getting the ball to Gordon inside, not Porter Jr. on the wing.
“We’re more than just Nikola Jokic,” coach Michael Malone said after the Nuggets’ 115-107 win on Sunday. “This team has a lot of talented players that have confidence and have big, big balls.”
“They have a lot of really good defenders that are long and all over Jamal,” Malone said. “His ability to find Nikola in the pocket, and when that happens, that’s kind of like unlocking the Rubik’s Cube. Anything can happen after that. When Nikola has the ball in the pocket, it’s lob, it’s kick-out 3, or it’s one of the most patented, most efficient floaters in the NBA. So that’s always something that we try to go to.”
“What I found about our group is that they do believe in themselves and more importantly, they believe in the man next to them. And we have a group that is acting as you would hope a championship team would act. They had a bad game. We owned it, and we moved past it, and we played better,” Malone said. “What I found is Rudy [Tomjanovich] is right, man. Never underestimate the heart of a champion.”
On the Timberwolves' side, they should feel semi-good about their Game 4 performance, minus the end of the half laps, in which the Nuggets scored 8 points in the last 20 seconds. Anthony Edwards had a fantastic game, scoring 44 and continuing to play tough defense. However, the Wolves will not win this series if Karl Anthony Towns continues to foul Jokic at half-court and goes 5 for 18 from the field.
“I don’t think they got any momentum,” Edwards said after Sunday’s game. “I mean, we won two games, they won two games. At this point, it’s whoever wins two games. I don’t know how people look at it, but I look at it like I’m happy. We’re competing at the highest level. I’m smiling about it because I’m happy, I’m ready to go play. If we played tomorrow I’d be ready.”
"I just told his ass we love that," said Edwards about Jamal Murray. "'Keep talking [like] that. That's what we like.' Well, I loved it. He didn't say nothing back. But I'm pretty sure he heard me. They heard me. You live for that."
You’ve got to love Edwards' brashness, who was also caught talking smack to Jamal Murray at the end of the game.
Ultimately, this series is turning into a game of strategic adjustments, and if the Wolves can’t figure out how to slow down the Nuggets' high-pick and role game, it may be over in six.