Wow.
There are collapses. And then there are COLLAPSES.
The Denver Nuggets, in a must-win Game 2, laid an egg for everyone to see, losing 106-80 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in blowout fashion. The game was not as close as the score indicated as the Nuggets simply could not score. They shot 35% from the field as a team. Jamal Murray shot 3-of-18 from the field and looked as bothered by an opposing defense as he ever has. Nikola Jokic shot just 5-of-13, made odd decisions with the basketball, and mostly gave up in the second half, scoring just six points and leaving the shooting to others.
“They kicked our ass,” Michael Malone stated as eloquently and concisely as he could in the moment.
The Nuggets caved in during the first half of Game 2 against the Timberwolves and trailed by as many as 28 points. The Nuggets were outscored 61-35 in the first half and couldn’t get a single lick of offense going. Aaron Gordon led the way with 15 points on 6-of-10 from the field. The Rest of the team combined to shoot 8-of-33 from the field in the first half. It was a murder scene out there on the court.
Perhaps surprised by the physicality allowed, the Nuggets quickly grew frustrated with the officiating and struggled to get on the board in the second quarter as a result. The Timberwolves played hellacious defense, sensing an opportunity to break the game open. They did just that, with Jamal Murray in particular struggling to do anything offensively. The trio of Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Kyle Anderson disrupted everything he wanted to do in pick and roll. The Nuggets scored just 15 points in the second quarter. Everyone played a part in Denver’s meltdown, and it extended to frustrations from the bench as well.
Jamal Murray throws a heat pack pic.twitter.com/JDADMojQgp
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 7, 2024
The third quarter got better for the Nuggets for a bit as the Timberwolves stopped trying as hard. Whenever the Nuggets appeared to be going on a run of sorts, the Timberwolves snuffed it out, causing defensive chaos, and often finding opportunities in transition. They scored backbreaking three-pointers, drove to the rim with little resistance, and sucked the life out of the building over and over and over again.
It wasn’t all Anthony Edwards either, though he hit a Michael Jordan shrug after a contested three-pointer in the second half. It was Karl-Anthony Towns playing with confidence, Naz Reid splashing three-pointers, Nickeil Alexander-Walker turning defense into offense, and Jaden McDaniels playing bully ball all over the court.
Anthony Edwards.
Electrifying indeed.He’s up to 24 PTS in Game 2 on TNT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ogVdfhzaNR
— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2024
There are tactical moves made by both teams to talk about. The Timberwolves defense was spectacular, even without Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who missed this game to be present for the birth of his first child. It was Alexander-Walker and McDaniels that can take the most credit, but it really was an entire team effort. Kyle Anderson and Karl-Anthony Towns were great frontcourt defenders, while Naz Reid came in and never gave any ground to Jokic.
But this loss was about the Nuggets giving up when the Timberwolves applied pressure.
Rather than persevere in a tough situation, when calls weren’t going their way, when the defense was amped up by the opponent, the Nuggets had several opportunities in the second quarter to refocus and reestablish themselves, to not let go of the rope.
The Nuggets not only let go of the rope against the Timberwolves. They burned it altogether.
The team’s frustration with the current situation is understandable. What’s not understandable is a championship team conducting themselves in that manner in Game 2 of a playoff series. It showed a level of immaturity and lack of leadership that HAS to be present in those moments. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray were of course struggling, and Murray in particular let those struggles overwhelm his responsibility to his team.
Murray declined to speak to reporters tonight after his poor performance.
Jokic, when asked about what he expects from the team in Game 3: “I don’t know. We will see.”
There are many forms leadership can take, but there’s a laissez faire approach in that answer from Jokic that doesn’t speak to how he passionately wants the team to recover and make this a series. Jokic is of course a hyper competitive player, but this is one area where he has struggled.
With regard to Murray’s leadership, it can be hard to speak up, to implore others to play better and be better, when Murray is as compromised as he is physically. He knows it. The team knows it. Michael Malone isn’t letting him off the hook.
“As far as Jamal and Nikola, nine years, eight years, we’ve been through a lot. Hopefully those guys can help in terms of leading the charge and rallying the troops. Not dropping your head, keep your head held high. At least no matter what happens, walk off the court knowing that you gave everything you had.”
So, someone has to step up in the void. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope? He’s getting cooked by Anthony Edwards. Aaron Gordon? He’s currently a -56 in the plus-minus on the series, and something’s clearly going wrong in his minutes. Michael Porter Jr.? Probably not, though he’s been Denver’s most consistent player all playoffs long.
“A loss like this is tough,” Malone declared with frustration. “You feel embarrassed. You feel exposed. So, what are you going to do about it? That’s my biggest thing. What are you going to do about it? Look yourself in the mirror, have the balls, have the courage to look yourself in the mirror and say ‘I did not do my job tonight’ and be better next game.”
“That’s all I can ask from them.”
Maybe the Nuggets could use a few days away, to travel to another city, and try again in another building?
More than likely, this is just the beginning of the end at Denver’s attempt to repeat as NBA champions, a tough way for any season to go.
Final Rotations
