MINNEAPOLIS — There have been times this season, and even in this playoff series against their bitter rivals, when Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch wondered if his team truly had what it takes.
He watched them float through the regular season, loafing in transition, settling for contested jump shots and getting beaten to loose balls and offensive rebounds. The times when they did summon their best were both intoxicating and maddeningly short-lived.
“The regular season, we were inconsistent with a lot of things that we did — and it was very frustrating, I’m not gonna lie,” Finch said. “Sometimes it was focus, sometimes it was effort, sometimes it was multiple efforts, sometimes it was execution.”
That attitude carried over to Game 1 of the first round in Denver, when the Wolves delivered the same uninspired performance on defense and immature approach on offense in a difficult defeat to the Nuggets.
“They kept telling me it will be different when we get (to the playoffs), and Game 1 wasn’t any different,” Finch said. “So, we jumped their ass. They lied to us. And they responded.”
Jaden McDaniels had just finished putting a little extra sauce on a stunning 112-96 Game 4 victory over Denver when Nikola Jokić, the three-time MVP who toyed with the Timberwolves so many times over the years, charged at him from the opposite end of the court. That McDaniels gave up 80 pounds to the Serbian star did not stop him from grabbing two fistfuls of Jokić’s jersey and standing his ground with a smile on his face and hatred in his heart.
In that moment Saturday, these often frustrating, occasionally floundering and sometimes wholly disconnected Timberwolves buried that version of themselves. A team that rarely fought for each other over those underwhelming 82 regular-season games suddenly united and raised their hackles together, the hairs on the backs of their necks standing at full attention as they rallied around their pot-stirring teammate.
Julius Randle bulled his way into the dogpile, moving Jokić back and snarling at Bruce Brown. Randle’s temperature ran so hot that it took assistant coach Kevin Hanson, head of security Tony Adams and president of basketball operations Tim Connelly to pull him away from the fray. Kyle Anderson went on a dead run to get from the other side of the court to the dust-up. Naz Reid remained on the sideline but quickly moved to the aid of his best friend, yapping at the Nuggets who converged on the Wolves’ bench. Bones Hyland, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rudy Gobert all rallied to the cause.
Jokić and Brown were surrounded by Wolves. Players, coaches, staffers and fans. Minnesota had just put together a devastating half of basketball, overcoming the losses of Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo to serious injuries, and was 1.3 seconds away from going up 3-1 in the Western Conference quarterfinals.
A late layup from the Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels when the game was well decided sparked a scuffle at the end of Game 4. (David Berding / Getty Images)
It would have finished 110-96, but McDaniels simply couldn’t help himself. He just had to buzz the tower, adding one more bucket at the end of a game that was already decided. It was his way of rubbing it in against an opponent he loathes more than any other.
“I mean, the game still had time on the clock, for real,” McDaniels said with a shrug.
He has been 6-feet-9 inches of rage bait in human form in this series — which has stunningly turned in the Timberwolves’ favor. Minnesota lost DiVincenzo to a torn right Achilles tendon less than two minutes into the game, and Edwards suffered a bone bruise and hyperextension in his left knee in the second quarter. He is expected to miss a few weeks, but a league source told The Athletic that an MRI revealed no structural damage to the knee, a huge relief for Edwards and the Wolves.
Watching two of their most important players unable to walk off the court under their own power caused something to stir inside the Timberwolves. Adversity harnessed connection. Suddenly, the Timberwolves weren’t wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of the regular season. For the first time in a long time, it felt like one pack hunting in unison. The way it did the last time they toppled the Nuggets. They have been searching for a cause greater than themselves all season. They finally found it in their empathy for their injured brothers.
Hate for Denver fueled their push to a 2-1 lead in the series. Love for each other took them to the doorstep of their third straight second-round berth and an upset even bigger than knocking off the No. 3 seed.
“You want to have your brothers’ backs and play for them in those moments,” said Randle, who had 15 points and nine rebounds. “I felt like we did that (Saturday).”
Ayo Dosunmu pulled off a picture-perfect impression of Edwards, erupting for a career-high 43 points on 13-for-17 shooting, including 5-for-5 from 3-point range. McDaniels fought foul trouble to put up 12 points and eight rebounds and harass Jamal Murray into 10-for-25 shooting. Gobert grabbed 15 rebounds, blocked two shots and had his third straight sterling defensive game against Jokić, holding him to 24 points on 8-for-22 shooting with four turnovers. Reid was clutching at his bothersome right shoulder all game long but still managed to score 17 points and grab nine rebounds.
“I’m trying to leave everything out there,” said Reid, who got treatment for his shoulder while standing at his locker. “Whether I’m hurt or not, just trying to go out there and compete at a high level. I ain’t going to always be able to score the ball the way I can because of the situation I’m in, but what else can I do? How else can I make an impact?”
That is the kind of selflessness, hunger and toughness Wolves fans had been looking for throughout the regular season. The Timberwolves talked title as they opened training camp, an audacity of hoop born from back-to-back runs to the conference finals. They brought nearly everyone back and figured the continuity would take them one more step. Instead, it bred complacency. The exact same record (49-33) and exact same No. 6 seed as last year did little to inspire anyone.
“Coach has been challenging us all year, just being mentally strong, sustaining mental toughness throughout the game and closing games,” Randle said. “We’ve had so many episodes this year of dropping games because of a lack of mental focus and toughness.”
McDaniels has helped flip the switch. He called out the Nuggets by name after Game 2, then backed up his taunts with a dominant performance in Game 3.
Mike Conley knew he made a mistake when he lofted the ball in McDaniels’ direction as the clock ticked down toward zero in Game 4. Minnesota’s most mischievous player was about to have the final word. Conley took the blame for the incident and jokingly apologized to the Nuggets for doing it.
“It’s always Jaden,” Conley said. “Jaden is in the middle of everything these days. Bless his heart.”
After McDaniels laid it in, Jokić sprinted to confront him. Randle and Jokić were ejected for their roles in the scuffle. The league is expected to review the tape to see if any other discipline is warranted.
“In 2026, that stuff just doesn’t happen anymore,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “That’s something that would happen in the ’80s, when teams would continue to score. But that’s who he is. … That has nothing to do with the win or the loss.”
Mike Conley and Ayo Dosunmu embrace during Saturday’s win. After Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards went down, both were pressed into increased action. (David Berding / Getty Images)
This rivalry is fast becoming a throwback to a bygone era, the product of 32 meetings over the last four years. Think back to your youth. The most bitter battles on the playground often came against the friends and neighbors you saw the most. Those who know you best can hurt you more than anyone else.
Those NBA historians who have a bloodlust for the street fights of the 1980s and ’90s are getting a glimpse of them in this matchup. Either get in the fight, or get out of the series.
“Just proud of the guys, stepping up, fighting for each other — literally and figuratively,” Finch said. “These teams don’t like each other, there’s just no secret. You play each other this many times where things are at stake, even a Christmas Day game is a battle, felt like a playoff game. It’s how it goes.”
Dosunmu is new to this rivalry, but has been only too happy to get right in the middle of it. He was acquired from flailing Chicago right before the trade deadline in February and is elated to be surrounded by competitors who never give in.
“Jaden, he’s very special,” Dosunmu said. “He means a lot to the team and the organization. He plays with passion, so me being his brother and me knowing that I’m always right there by his side because that’s who he is, that’s how he competes, that’s how he gets himself going. No matter what, I’m always riding with him.”
The Wolves now have three straight wins over a Nuggets team that won 13 straight games from the end of the regular season through Game 1 of this series and was up by 19 points early in Game 2. Since then, it’s been all Minnesota. The Wolves have held Denver under 100 points in back-to-back playoff games, the first time that has happened to the Nuggets since the second round in 2024 — against the Timberwolves.
With two of their starters out, the Wolves’ bench outscored the Nuggets second unit 76-16. Once again, the deeper Wolves wore down the Nuggets, outscoring them 30-18 in the fourth quarter. Jokic was 1-for-10 with three turnovers in the second half.
Denver shot 24 percent from the field in the second half, including 15 percent from 3. But this wasn’t just bad shooting luck. The Wolves were all over the Nuggets’ shooters, contesting every look and speeding the offense up. Tim Hardaway Jr. was 0-for-6 from 3 and shot one off the side of the backboard. Aaron Gordon, trying to gut it out through a calf injury, was 1-for-5 from deep.
“I think we just showed that we wanted it,” Reid said. “We wanted it really bad. Dedicate it to Ant and Donte.”
After the game, the mixture of joy and sadness was palpable. They are one win away from advancing, but they are down two of their best. Edwards and DiVincenzo bring swagger and fire to a team that needs both.
“I think they’ll be with us,” Reid said. “They understand. We understand. We know what it takes. It’s not going to be easy, not at all. We gotta go out there and do what we gotta do.”
The Timberwolves know that getting the last win in a series is always the most difficult one. They will also have a new perspective. For too long this season, they were a team gazing at their own navel. The Wolves seemed to feel sorry for themselves when the rest of the West didn’t bend the knee in deference to the best stretch of basketball in franchise history.
On Saturday, the losses they suffered forced them to stop staring in the mirror for sympathy and start looking to each other for strength. It has given them a purpose they did not feel. A bond they did not have.
“That might be the most proud of our team I’ve been all season,” Finch said. “Just fighting through everything we did.”