DENVER (AP) 鈥� Jaden McDaniels took perhaps his most notable shot after Minnesota’s on Monday night.
The Timberwolves forward pretty much labeled all the Nuggets’ players bad defenders. Thrown in there were All-Stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
鈥淕o after Jokic, Jamal, all the bad defenders,鈥� said McDaniels, who had 14 points and three assists. “Tim Hardaway (Jr.), Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, the whole team, just go at them.鈥�
So they’re all bad defenders?
鈥淵eah, they鈥檙e all bad defenders,鈥� McDaniels added.
The Timberwolves overcame a 19-point deficit to even the first-round series, which shifts to Minnesota for Game 3 on Thursday night. Anthony Edwards led the way with 30 points despite playing on a sore knee. He also had 10 rebounds.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 got people that can defend the rim,鈥� McDaniels said. “We鈥檙e still more athletic than them and just got to be able to finish when we do.鈥�
Jokic had 24 points and 15 rebounds 鈥� all on the defensive end 鈥� while Murray scored 30 points. But Denver’s dynamic duo shot a combined 2 of 12 for four points in the fourth quarter. Murray had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds but elected to pull up for a 2-point shot instead.
He missed.
鈥淚 was happy he took the two points,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淚 thought he had a good look at a 3 when he first came off but yeah, he took the 2-pointer. I guess if he made it, we would have been in a free-throw situation. But yeah, I鈥檓 kind of happy he took the 2-pointer.鈥�
Murray said he 鈥渄idn’t make enough shots tonight.鈥�
“That鈥檚 really about it,鈥� he added. “We all could have played better. It鈥檚 not all on one person, that鈥檚 just the way the game goes sometimes. They played hard as well. It was a good game. I thought we had the game in our hands, but we just didn鈥檛 make enough shots, in my opinion.鈥�
___
AP NBA:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
