MINNEAPOLIS — The Nuggets viewed their final games of the NBA regular season as worthy of praise. For Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, it lit a fuse.
Remember when the Nuggets kept everyone guessing at the end of the regular season by sitting players against the Thunder and the Spurs? It appeared Denver was trying to roll out lineups designed to lose. But the reserves refused to cooperate with that notion.
The Nuggets finished the regular season on a 12-game winning streak, and by beating the Spurs in the finale, they secured the No. 3 seed and a matchup with the Timberwolves. Had Denver finished fourth, it would have played Houston, a series that became more favorable in the coming days with the Rockets’ Kevin Durant sidelined by ankle and knee injuries.
But Minnesota was no longer in the Nuggets’ heads like in 2024. Denver played well against them this season.
“We weren’t ducking anybody,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said.
Maybe they should have. To hear Finch tell it, the Nuggets might as well have raised a middle finger to Minnesota as they raced across the finish line.
“Our guys took it personally. Denver had the chance to pick who they wanted to play coming down the stretch and they chose us,” said Finch after the Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets 110-98 at Target Center on Thursday night. “We used that as motivation in our preparation and all the way through the series.”
The thing is, the Nuggets were kind of doing the opposite. Had they really wanted to guarantee a showdown with the rival Timberwolves, all of the starters would have played. Instead, they prioritized health, save for a 15-minute first-half appearance by Nikola Jokic, which qualified him for All-NBA honors.
This was a rest-and-recovery game. And time for the reserves to shine. Led by former CSU star David Roddy, the Nuggets matched the Spurs’ physicality and intensity. San Antonio featured four regulars –De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper — and yet Denver’s unknowns refused to flinch.
Julian Strawther led the Nuggets with 25 points. Jonas Valanciunas delivered a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double. And somebody named Curtis Jones — not the one on LinkedIn — scored 13 points in 32 minutes.
Told of Finch’s remarks after the game, Nuggets forward Cam Johnson took exception. Like many in the media, there was confusion. Was Finch onto something? Or was he just laying it on thick after the series, since before it started, there was not a single mention by his players about this topic?
“As players, you are always going to try to win. If we are talking about San Antonio, we had a group of guys playing who were fighting for their lives, for their careers,” said Johnson, clearly irked by the insinuation of manipulating the bracket. “Know that they are never going to lay down. It wasn’t about seeking a matchup. For everybody who stepped up in that San Antonio game, two-way guys, it means something to them. The guys didn’t have Minnesota on their mind. They wanted to prove something to themselves.”
Finch gave his answer about the Nuggets as part of another question. He clearly wanted it known, wanted it part of the public dialogue. The Nuggets were not buying it.
In the end, like the series, Finch won the mind game.
“They didn’t have to choose us,” Finch said. “And they did and our guys were up to the challenge.”
