Crunch time with Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets is a beautiful thing.
The Nuggets are unflappable when the game is on the line. They’re comfortable, calm, and always collected during a game’s most stressful moments. It comes from hours upon hours of playing together. Reps on top of reps. Talent, synergy, and connectivity all over the floor.
The Timberwolves experienced the Nuggets’ crunch-time death machine Wednesday at Ball Arena in Denver’s 116-107 win that likely decided the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
The Nuggets led the Timberwolves 91-87 with seven minutes remaining in regulation. It was a two-score game.
Denver then scored on 10-straight possessions to ice one of the most anticipated matchups of the regular season — against the No. 1 defense in the NBA.
It was a masterclass, but one we’ve seen countless times before.
“They are the No. 1 defensive team in the NBA for a reason,” Jokic said. “They are so versatile, they have guys that have a long wingspan, they are athletic, they can guard multiple positions. They are a really tough team to beat.”
This felt like a playoff game. It was a playoff atmosphere, and Jokic came to play. He tallied 41 points on a pristine 16-20 shooting against the likely Defensive Player of the Year who I think defends him better 1-on-1 than anyone.
Jokic barely felt Gobert. It was another statement MVP performance on national TV that kept the Nuggets in control of their own destiny for the top spot in the conference. If Denver finishes the season 2-0, the Nuggets win the West.
In the Nuggets’ postgame locker room, Peyton Watson was asked about Jokic’s night. He pointed across the locker room and started making goat noises.
Jokic, with his AirPods in, looked over, smiled, and walked out of sight.
“Rudy Gobert is going to be a Hall of Fame player one day,” Michael Malone said. “He’s going to be regarded as one of the greatest defenders of his generation…nobody can guard Nikola 1-on-1.”
“Here in Denver, we know what we have. We have the best player in the world.”
But the Nuggets have a lot more than that.
Jamal Murray, who it still doesn’t sound like is 100% healthy, begged Malone to let him play against Minnesota after also playing Tuesday in Utah on the front end of Denver’s back-to-back.
He finished with 20 points and 6 assists.
“I wasn’t sitting out this game,” Murray said.
Then, there was the bench. Christian Braun and Peyton Watson were the heroes of this game.
Watson finished with six blocks in 23 minutes. Braun had a pair of thunderous dunks in the fourth quarter. One was with his left hand that put Gobert on a poster.
The founding members of the Nuggets’ Project Dynasty closed the fourth quarter instead of Denver’s two best defenders (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon). They deserved to.
They helped lead the Nuggets to a win over the team that most inside Denver’s locker room believe is its toughest matchup in the West.
“I have a feeling that we’re probably going to see that team again in the playoffs,” Malone said. “It will be a hell of a series because they’re a very good team. They’re well coached and they have a lot of talent over there.”
