The Denver Nuggets coming to town would typically be a welcome sight at Target Center for fans both watching in-person and on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ second nationally-televised game of the year.
However,
just five days after the season opener in Portland, it would prove to be the first complete game test for a banged-up Minnesota squad missing their north star and on their first back-to-back of the season.
Averaging 23 points against the Nuggets in his career, Anthony Edwards is a notorious killer of the Nuggets and would certainly be big shoes to fill, always posing a matchup nightmare against a Denver team that has no matchups for him defensively.
The catch? Nikola Jokic and company went into Monday with the second-best offense in the league (124 offensive rating).
Chris Finch made the call to replace Edwards in the starting five with Mike Conley, sliding Donte DiVincenzo to the two guard spot to favor a floor general with a slew of points to be grabbed on the board by number five’s absence.
Early on, it was felt.
The Nuggets got things rolling with a 16-6 start, running up and down the floor on a discombobulated Wolves team offensively. Going to Julius Randle over and over again on Sunday night against the Indiana Pacers to an immaculate success rate, the Wolves strayed away from that with a heavy defensive emphasis on Randle, and tried to make plays through other channels.
It would be the newly christened starter in Conley that would jumpstart the Wolves offensively. Conley finished the first half with six points, three rebounds, four assists, doing it all and pushing the pace to allow others to get involved, too.
The main beneficiaries? The heavily scouted Randle and Jaden McDaniels, both with a matching 15 points, were heading into half with the Wolves leading 65-57.
Struggling to guard Nikola Jokic, but especially without Rudy Gobert on the floor, it played in the Wolves’ favor for the three-time MVP to get into foul trouble, racking up three by halftime.
He’d manage to stay within the rules in the second half, however, and start to make the Wolves pay without putting the ball in the basket that often.
The Wolves adjusted to bring quick help defense to Jokic in the third quarter due to being undersized, and he made them pay, spraying the ball out to willing shooters and tacking on three third-quarter assists. Tim Hardaway Jr. was a major beneficiary, lighting the Wolves up for 15 third-quarter points on 5-5 shooting.
Outmanned and not quite enough size to hold up to Denver, the Wolves would go on to let the rope slip from there. Julius Randle was held in check to just four second-half points, without much offense getting run through him; something that worked so well without Edwards in the lineup just a night earlier.
Up Next
Get used to it: the Wolves will host another nationally-televised game on Wednesday, once again against the Los Angeles Lakers. The game will be on ESPN and simulcast on FanDuel Sports North.
The Lakers will be without Luka Doncic, who scored 49 and decimated the Wolves on Friday at Crypto.com Arena, but after a recent Austin Reaves 50-piece against the Sacramento Kings, it poses a challenge for the two teams that will be without their best player.
