The Denver Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-107 to claim the top seed in the Western Conference with two games to go.

In what was an epic matchup between two heavyweights, the Nuggets ultimately prevailed behind the strength of their MVP. Nikola Jokic was absolutely cooking, and the Timberwolves had no answer for the Serbian superstar this time around. He got where he wanted to go and helped the Nuggets win their most important game of the season.

“Hopefully, the national audience will recognize greatness,” Michael Malone shared postgame on Nikola Jokic. “For us here in Denver, we know what we have. We have the best player in the world, and tonight was just another example of that.”

Early on, this game was absolutely incredible, going back and forth between two teams that understood the importance of the moment. The Nuggets were sloppy initially but hit enough threes to stay in the game, shooting 7-of-16 in the first half. Jamal Murray had 11 first half points and made his first three three-pointers, taking advantage whenever he had space to shoot over Jaden McDaniels, an elite defender. The Nuggets were trailing for most of the half though, and the T’Wolves were getting enough of what they wanted to both ends to keep Denver at bay.

Then, Nikola Jokic took over in the second half. He had 24 points in the second half alone and was going to work on Rudy Gobert, who will win Defensive Player of the Year this season. Jokic used a litany of fakes, drives, jumpers, floaters, and layups to get Gobert out of position. Gobert got Jokic once in the first half with a block, but the second half was all about Jokic finding solutions on every single possession.

Jokic finished the game with 41 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and just two turnovers. His defense was solid in the second half, and with the pressure he consistently applied offensively, it was clear that Denver had the best player on the floor tonight.

“Rudy Gobert is going to be a Hall of Fame player one day. Rudy Gobert is going to be regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation,” Michael Malone credited to the Timberwolves big man.

“It just speaks to how great Nikola is. I don’t think anybody can guard Nikola 1-on-1.”

That wasn’t for a lack of effort from Anthony Edwards though. The T’Wolves star shooting guard was absolutely cooking in the third quarter, going at Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jamal Murray, and anyone else unfortunate enough to get in front of him. Edwards finished with 25 points through three quarters and looked like he was unstoppable.

Edwards finished with 25 points on the game too. Zero in the fourth quarter. For whatever reason, Edwards wasn’t as involved, shooting just three times in the fourth quarter and staying mostly uninvolved in Minnesota’s actions. Mike Conley had a strong game as well, but the T’Wolves needed Edwards, and he didn’t get enough shots.

Part of the reason for that was Denver’s young guys. Christian Braun and Peyton Watson were tremendous defensively. Braun switched on the perimeter and battled on the interior against bigs like Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert. Reid shot just 6-of-19 from the field tonight, and while that might not be sustainable for the entire time, it was a great job by Braun among others who met Reid with physicality and poise. Braun also had the Anthony Edwards matchup in the fourth quarter, and that worked well.

Oh, and Christian Braun put on his own personal dunk contest in the fourth quarter:

Braun’s dunk on Rudy Gobert was one of Denver’s best punctuations of the season. It’s been rare for Denver to hit a level like that with several exclamations on top of each other, but Braun (and Peyton Watson after him) gave fans an unbelievable moment in the final regular season home game.

“I would definitely say it was the best [dunk of my career] so far,” Braun shared of the above poster. “I think the sequence was really fun too, just getting up and down. That’s when we play our best basketball.”

Watson, in his 23 minutes, had an absurd six blocks. He was absolutely everywhere defensively and made impact plays all over the floor. He and Braun closed the game over Caldwell-Pope and Gordon, and it was justified.

“I’m always happy for those guys,” Nikola Jokic shared about Braun and Watson. “I don’t think they’re getting enough credit for what they’re doing on the floor and how they’re helping us energy wise, effort wise. We need them.”

Finally, Jamal Murray played a strong game today. He was a bit sloppy at times, which is unsurprising against the best defense in the NBA on the second night of a back-to-back. Murray found multiple times throughout the game to make an impact with 20 points, six assists, and four rebounds. He shot 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from three, lifting up the Nuggets at times when their energy was low.

Malone shared how proud he was of Murray and how he didn’t know if his star point guard would even play tonight.

“You have no idea, the last [24] hours since we won in Utah, is he playing tonight or is he not playing tonight?” Malone shared of Murray’s injury status. “He went out there and played, and I feel like he imposed his will out there tonight.”

On the flight back from Utah, Murray opined to Malone and the coaching staff how much he wanted to play.

“He was like a little kid, man, just begging to play…nothing was keeping him off that floor tonight. Nobody.”

So now, the 1 seed is in Denver’s hands. After much hemming and hawing throughout the season about the top spot’s importance for a playoff run, it’s now well within Denver’s grasp to finish at the top.

Denver’s not fully healthy, and perhaps they never will be. This post All-Star break run is drastically different from last year. There would never have been any concern about whether to play Murray or Aaron Gordon in a game like tonight last year. They simply wouldn’t have played because the top spot was already wrapped up. That helped Denver tremendously in the long run, even though there were worries heading into the playoffs on whether the Nuggets could flip a switch.

Now, the Nuggets will be faced with a different kind of challenge. First, can they win the final two games of the season? They go on the road to play the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies, two teams that have little to play for at this stage. If the Nuggets take those matchups seriously, they should win them without exerting as much effort as they did tonight.

Second, and perhaps more important, can the Nuggets get as healthy as possible between now and the start of the playoffs? Denver will likely play on Sunday, April 21st, 10 days from now, in Game 1 of their first round series. How much rest can Denver get in 10 days? Probably not a ton. They will be rested, but fully recharged and healthy? We will see.

For now though, it’s important to enjoy the moment. The Nuggets are now 56-24 and with a serious chance to break the team’s franchise record of 57 wins. If Denver takes care of business, this will be the greatest regular season in franchise history.

We will see if it translates to a great playoff moment or not.

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