The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets have developed an intense rivalry, meeting in the NBA playoffs three times in the last four years.
The Nuggets bounced the Wolves 4-1 in 2023 on their way to the franchise's first NBA championship but Minnesota won the rematch a year later, capped by a 20-point second-half comeback in Game 7 in Denver.
This year the Nuggets rolled into the playoffs on a 12-game winning streak and handled the Timberwolves in the opener of their Western Conference playoff series only to blow a 19-point lead in Game 2 before getting throttled twice in Minneapolis.
Even with their starting backcourt of Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) and Anthony Edwards (knee) getting hurt Saturday night, the Wolves raced past the Nuggets 112-96 behind Ayo Dosunmu's career-best 43 points, the most by a reserve in a playoff game in half a century.
For Dosunmu, it's his first playoff experience and he is making the most of it so far, saying the increased intensity in the postseason with Minnesota is very different from the regular season.
"From the end of the regular season to, I would say game one-ish in the second half of game one to now, just seeing the intensity and that just shows you the winning culture," Dosunmu said after the game. "And it shows you why they had so much success making it to the Western Conference Finals and just being a part of that, that's been nothing but amazing."
Game 5 is in Denver and another flop could send the Nuggets into a stunning early exit and an offseason of change after an injury-marred first full season under coach David Adelman, who has had no answers for the Nuggets' sudden struggles.
Denver's Nikola Jokic was fined $50,000 and Minnesota's Julius Randle was fined $35,000 for their roles in an altercation near the end of Game 4 of the teams' playoff series, the NBA announced Sunday.
Both will be eligible to play in Denver for Game 5.
The incident was evidently sparked when Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels took an uncontested layup with 2.1 seconds left and the Timberwolves already leading by 14 — a play the Nuggets took exception to, given how the game had been decided.
Jokic, the NBA said, “initiated the incident by confronting and shoving” McDaniels in reaction to that play. Randle, the league said, “escalated the incident by forcefully inserting himself into the scrum and shoving Nuggets guard-forward Bruce Brown.”
Jokic and Randle were assessed technical fouls and ejected from the game.
“He scored when we’d stopped playing,” Jokic said. “You guys saw what happened.”
Outside of the physical confrontation and back on the court, Jokic is perhaps facing the one NBA player who makes life difficult for him on the offensive end, where Jokic normally dominates play. The high-scoring Nuggets are being held in check by the Wolves' defense and that is led by 4-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. He gave a lot of credit to the players who have stepped up with others injured.
"But we stick together and guys that came in the game made plays on both ends, and we keep our composure," Gobert said. "Keep trusting one another, and when we do that, anything's possible. Every game's got different type of adversity and I'm really proud, once again, I'm really proud of the guys."
Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
When/Where to watch: Game 5: 9:30 p.m. CDT (NBC Peacock)
Series: Wolves lead, 3-1
Betting line: Nuggets by 10 1/2
What to Know: DiVincenzo’s season is over with an Achilles tendon injury and Edwards is facing a long recovery from a bone bruise and hyperextended knee. ... The Nuggets were the highest-scoring team in the NBA this season and were held under 100 points just twice, back in January. But they managed just 96 points in both of their losses in Minneapolis.
Denver's Jokic wand Minnesota's Randle were fined for their roles in an altercation near the end of Game 4
Denver's Jokic wand Minnesota's Randle were fined for their roles in an altercation near the end of Game 4
