The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off a tough loss to the Dallas Mavericks the other night and were looking to rebound against Denver tonight. The Wolves started this game off on fire, as it seemed as though the ball was moving easily tonight. Minnesota jumped on the Nuggets early as Anthony Edwards was able to get himself going, which got his teammates involved as well. Rudy Gobert was able to set the tone tonight for the Timberwolves on both ends and he had the assignment of guarding Nikola Jokic. One thing about Jokic is that he can get to his spots without any issues and you have to give some credit to Rudy as he was able to make Jokic force up a couple of uncharacteristic shots tonight. The Minnesota Timberwolves had a well-balanced attack tonight in this game as they had 5 scorers in double figures tonight. The main area that the Timberwolves have struggled in so far this season has been the rebounding department and it happened again tonight as the Nuggets outrebounded them (46-38). The Nuggets were able to capitalize off some of the boards as Michael Porter Jr and Aaron Gordon made the Timberwolves pay all night. It’s crazy because a lot of the shots that Gordon made tonight were contested as he finished with a game-high 31 points. He was giving the Timberwolves trouble all night as he hit jumper after jumper.
The Nuggets game plan had to be shifted when Jamal Murray exited the game due to concussion protocol. Once Murray was ruled out you can see Nikola Jokic taking on the bigger role and the challenge against the Timberwolves. Rudy did a great job of guarding Jokic when it came to his scoring but Jokic was able to still impact the game as he finished with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 13 assists. Jokic showed that he can trust his teammates in these big games and he was able to instill that confidence in them in this game throughout the 48 minutes. The Timberwolves had their lead dwindle but they showed a lot of fight and grit in the 2nd half when the Nuggets went on their 25-3 run. Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle are going to bring this team as far as they can this season and against the Nuggets tonight both combined for 52 out of the 119. This team showed some defensive promise down the stretch with the DPOY Rudy Gobert making some huge plays down the stretch guarding Jokic. Rudy Gobert finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 assists tonight for Minnesota. The Minnesota Timberwolves had a late flurry from Anthony Edwards that included a 3-pointer followed by a floater in the paint that got them the win.
Up next the Minnesota Timberwolves will be going to San Antonio to face the Spurs on a back-to-back as they look to come back to Minnesota (4-2) on the young season.
Photo Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
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