As he caught a pass from Nikola Jokic and began to uncork a 3-pointer moments later, his old friend suddenly lunged toward him and shouted, doing his part to distract the open shooter. But Braun was ready for it. “When I catch the ball in the corner, they say the same exact thing every single time,” he said. “So I’ve come to expect it. … It’s a lot of different things from different people. So I try to pick out one or two things that I hear and go for that person.”

Usually, that person is Bones Hyland.

Braun drained the shot and pointed at his former Nuggets teammate. It was the first quarter of Game 1 between Denver and Minnesota, and the trash talk was already flying both directions.

“I’m pretty close with Bones, from when he was here. So he’s obviously a really good dude, and I love going back and forth with him,” Braun explained. “It was funny because I think in the preseason, it was the same exact thing. I caught it in the corner, hit a shot, turned around, looked at him — and it just feels so familiar. Playing these guys. We’ve played them so many times.”

The Nuggets and Timberwolves can’t seem to escape each other. Not in the regular season, when they face off four times as division opponents. Not in the offseason, when their coaching staffs and front offices regularly trade places. And not in the NBA playoffs, where they’re meeting for the third time in four years.

Not all NBA rivalries are created equal. This one has persisted long enough to stand tall as arguably the most compelling of the 2020s. In large part because the only feeling more satisfying than defeating your enemies is that of defeating your friends.

“It’s weird to shake their hands after the series,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said, “because you know those guys so well. But during it, it’s kind of, ‘See you in a couple of weeks.'”

Tim Connelly’s fingerprints on both rosters

The staff connections were already endless, and they’ve somehow expanded over the last year. Most of them were related to Tim Connelly, Minnesota’s president of basketball operations, who previously ran Denver’s front office for nine years. He was the Nuggets’ lead executive when they drafted Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.; when they hired Michael Malone; when they traded for Aaron Gordon. He was the chief architect of a championship team. But he walked away from Denver less than a year before his vision was realized, taking the Timberwolves job in 2022. Jokic still stays in touch with him.

“I think people see Tim as a general manager, but he is a really good person, really good friend,” the star center said last week. “So I wish people (could) know Tim. Like, (so they) don’t look at Tim as a general manager.”

Connelly took Jon Wallace with him to Minnesota. Wallace had joined the Nuggets in 2019 as a basketball operations associate — a low-level role that included building relationships with players. (Connelly introduced him and Murray via group chat, sparking a friendship.) Then last June, the Nuggets snatched Wallace back from Minnesota, hiring him as their new co-general manager alongside his friend Ben Tenzer — another longtime Connelly disciple who’d been a steady hand behind the scenes in Denver’s front office since 2013.

Wallace and Tenzer’s fingerprints are all over this Nuggets roster, even though they’ve only been in charge for 10 months. They brought in four new rotation players in their first offseason, including Bruce Brown — another link to the Nuggets-Wolves rivalry. It was he who said after Denver won the championship in 2023 that “our toughest series was Minnesota,” despite the first-round clash lasting only five games.

“Jon and Ben, they’re like family. We couldn’t be more proud,” Connelly told The Denver Post earlier this season. “It’s awesome, you know? Josh (Kroenke) has remained one of my best friends. To see Ben’s growth, to see Jon, his rapid ascent, and to see the team’s success, to see DA — there’s a tremendous sense of pride watching your buddies do such great things professionally. And they’re all just great guys. … Four times a year, I want to beat them, and the other 78, you won’t find a bigger Denver Nuggets home than ours.”

Connelly’s audacity as a lead executive has likewise been apparent throughout his time in Minnesota, even though the franchise-altering Anthony Edwards draft pick was before his time. When he traded four first-round picks for defensive stopper Rudy Gobert, he had Jokic specifically in mind. And his decision to partner with Gobert was a full-circle development dating back to his first week in Denver. In 2013, the Nuggets traded away Gobert’s draft rights to Utah for cash and a future second-round pick.

The connections run even deeper. Denver’s general manager before the Wallace-Tenzer tandem, Calvin Booth, ascended with the Timberwolves from 2013-17, first as a scout then as their director of player personnel. Connelly hired Booth away from Minnesota in 2017. Then Booth succeeded Connelly as Denver’s lead executive when Connelly left for Minnesota. Roster-building gamesmanship ensued between the rivals. In the 2024 NBA Draft, Denver originally possessed the 28th pick in the first round — one spot behind Minnesota. Booth was high on Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II, but he thought his former boss might nab the big man prospect at No. 27. Whether those suspicions were valid or a result of subterfuge by Connelly, the Nuggets ultimately traded up six spots to draft Holmes, sacrificing three future second-round picks.

First-year Nuggets coach David Adelman got his start in the NBA as a Timberwolves player development assistant under his dad, Hall of Famer Rick Adelman. JJ Barea was a player in Minnesota at the time and lived in the same building as David. They used to meet up for postgame beers to rehash the night and talk basketball — laying a groundwork, unbeknownst to them, for Adelman to hire Barea more than a decade later. Barea is now one of the top assistants on Denver’s staff, collaborating with Adelman on the offense.

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch is a former Nuggets assistant under Malone. So is Micah Nori, Finch’s lead assistant. Nori and Jokic talked last week before the playoffs began, with Nori lamenting that he was sick of watching Jokic’s film. “We’ve definitely played, like, 40 times in the last three years against them,” Jokic agreed. They’ve exchanged a sizable amount of good-natured trash talk, both in private and public.

“We were together in the Summer League,” Jokic reminisced, “and he always made me run the lines. And I didn’t get the ball from him. He didn’t trust me at all. And then he always wants to take all the credit for my success right now.”

Hyland was on the Nuggets’ roster the year they won the championship, but he fell out of favor with veteran players and was shipped off to Los Angeles at the trade deadline that season. Three years later, he has found a home in Minnesota, where Connelly took him back. Hyland said this season that he feels no ill will toward the Nuggets. When he arrived at Ball Arena for Game 1 of the series last week, he and Tenzer greeted each other in the back hallways fondly.

Then the ball was tipped, and Hyland assumed his role as an irritant of Denver’s corner shooters.

“It’s fun, man,” Braun said. “They’re a really good team. They’re a competitive group. And this series between the two teams is always really fun for us. … Just a lot of familiar faces. So you bump into the same person a million times. That’s kind of what happens. So it’s a fun series, and I think both sides enjoy playing each other.”

“I kind of felt it in preseason, to be honest with you,” said Tim Hardaway Jr., a newcomer to the rivalry. “Just how kind of physical it would be. Both ends of the floor.”

The players have increasingly bought in over the years, even those without as many connections to the other city. Edwards taunted Nuggets fans at the end of Minnesota’s Game 7 win in 2024, getting on Jokic’s nerves in the process. Regular-season games have turned into classics since then. There was Russell Westbrook’s missed layup in double-overtime. There was Jokic’s 56-point Christmas masterpiece this season, which ended with a frustrated Edwards getting ejected and laughed at by Ball Arena.

Jaden McDaniels upped the stakes this week when he called out several Nuggets players by name, labeling them bad defenders. The Wolves backed up his talk with a Game 3 rout. A first-round series to settle the score had taken another dramatic emotional swing, as these matchups between the Nuggets and Timberwolves tend to do.

“Just playing Denver,” McDaniels said afterward, “really motivates us.”

But as coach David Adelman points out, the timing of Jaden McDaniels’ viral insult was a little ironic.

McDaniels was not afraid to stir the pot Monday night after the Timberwolves stole Game 2 of their first-round playoff series from the Nuggets. Minnesota’s 25-year-old wing called out Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and several other players by name for being easy marks. “They’re all bad defenders,” he declared.

Indeed, Denver’s defense ranked 21st in the regular season at 116, a bottom-10 finish for the second consecutive year. But Minnesota has failed to consistently take advantage of it through two games, despite McDaniels’ smack talk.

“We’ve gotten really lazy as a society. What����ap our defensive rating in this series?” Adelman asked reporters Wednesday after the Nuggets finished practice.

It����ap 109 points allowed per 100 possessions — 102 in 67 minutes when Jokic and Murray have shared the court.

“OK,” Adelman said. “Next.”

Denver’s defense became a national talking point after the attention-grabbing quote from McDaniels. It was convenient talk show fodder. And it wasn’t completely without merit: Jokic and Murray generally have a reputation for being subpar defenders at their respective positions — Jokic as a big man who doesn’t protect the rim, Murray as a guard who struggles to stop the ball. The majority of their effort is devoted to offense, where they’re one of the savviest and most talented duos in the NBA. Opponents try to force them, in turn, to defend pick-and-rolls and other actions.

“All teams do this in the playoffs,” as Adelman said himself between the first two games of the series. “You’re either hunting a matchup, or you’re trying to get the other team’s best offensive players as tired as possible.”

But the Nuggets didn’t lose Game 2 at home because of their defense. In large part, they lost Game 2 because Jokic and Murray weren’t good enough … offensively.

Sounds backwards, doesn’t it?

“I think that defensively, we’ve been pretty good,” Christian Braun said. “There were some spots where we could’ve played better. We made some mistakes, I think late (in the) game, that we don’t typically make. But we’re not too worried about comments, what other people are saying.”

“I can’t wait for his podcast,” Adelman added when reacting to McDaniels’ take.

Two portions of the game stand out upon review. The first is a stretch of the second quarter, when the Wolves were erasing a 19-point deficit. Their comeback started with an 11-0 run when Jokic was on the bench, taking his usual breather, but Denver still wielded a 10-point lead with 7:30 to go in the half.

Jokic had checked back in. Rudy Gobert, who played outstanding 1-on-1 defense against him, was out of the game with three fouls, not be seen again until the second half. Minnesota was playing a smaller, five-out lineup with Julius Randle and Naz Reid in frontcourt. That unit did inherently cause problems for the Nuggets’ defense by stretching them out. It enabled Anthony Edwards and the Wolves to more comfortably put pressure on the rim, move the ball around the perimeter and knock down open 3s.

But it also sacrificed defensive stability against Jokic. Or it should have, at least.

The Nuggets neglected to use their biggest advantage. On four consecutive empty possessions, Jokic never touched the ball in the frontcourt. Denver played fast-paced offense instead, rushing into shots without settling down and involving him. On a fifth possession, Jokic finally got an awkward touch around the elbow but had to tip the ball to himself multiple times while Minnesota went for a steal. He ended up passing out of the chaos. Aaron Gordon missed a corner three. Make it five straight possessions without a paint touch for the MVP center.

By the end of those five possessions, Minnesota had transformed a double-digit deficit into a lead. Jokic got a paint touch on the next trip and scored easily. He posted up Randle the possession after that, waited for a second defender to collapse then kicked out to Murray for an open 3-pointer. When the Nuggets ended the half on an 8-0 run, it started with Jokic establishing position deep in the paint for a catch and an easy bucket.

But in total, he only attempted four shots — one of them from deep — in his 8.5 second-quarter minutes against a lineup that couldn’t guard him. That much was obvious in the second half, when Gobert was sidelined by foul trouble again. Denver adjusted by slowing down and feeding Jokic more. He was a more willing aggressor. He scored 12 easy points during a 14-5 run, as if to accentuate the missed opportunities from that earlier stint.

Then came the fourth-quarter drought. Game 2 ended on a 19-9 Timberwolves run, the crux of which happened from the 8:20 to 1:20 mark. In those seven minutes, Denver’s only made field goal was a transition dunk by Braun when Randle fell asleep getting back on defense after a free throw.

Jokic and Murray combined to miss 10 consecutive shots. They spammed the two-man game against Minnesota’s two best defenders, McDaniels and Gobert. Jokic screened for Murray. Murray screened for Jokic, inverting the pick-and-roll — a trick that very few tandems have the skill-set to pull off. By using Jokic as the ball-handler, Denver can make an elite defensive center like Gobert guard in a way he’s not accustomed to — fighting over screens. The coverage decisions can become trickier for a defense.

But Jokic was sloppy. Not as precise as usual. On one inverted pick-and-roll with Bruce Brown as the screener, Donte DiVincenzo (Brown’s defender) stepped up to show, before Jokic had dribbled around the screen. Brown read the defense and slipped toward the rim instead of holding his screen — the right play. He was open. But Jokic had the ball poked away by DiVincenzo before he could make the pass, forcing him to reset. The possession ended with Jokic cutting to receive a pass from Brown, then missing a contested layup with Gobert in pursuit.

On another possession, McDaniels navigated an initial screen from Jokic successfully to stay glued to Murray. The point guard gave the ball to Jokic and screened for him, flowing into the second action. Jokic rejected the screen and leveraged it to create an open driving lane to his left. But Gobert again stuck to his hip just well enough to make Jokic’s lefty layup attempt difficult. Jokic missed it and fell on the baseline in the process, perhaps trying to sell a foul. It led to a 5-on-4  transition push for Minnesota. An easy dunk.

Other times, the Nuggets generated open 3s but simply missed. They ran an after-timeout play in which Murray dribbled to his left around two screens and got free of McDaniels, only to clank the shot from one of his favorite spots on the floor. Jokic came off a pin-down from Braun to catch on the right wing — again making Gobert chase him around a screen — but air-balled the 3-pointer.

And Gobert was up to the task of guarding Jokic in isolation when the Nuggets decided to clear out on a handful of clutch possessions. Jokic moved the French giant into the paint on one, but he front-rimmed a hook shot that he usually makes, leading to an awkward, ricocheting long rebound and a fast-break dunk the other way.

In those seven minutes, the Timberwolves outscored Denver 12-3. Four of those points were in transition — directly resulting from Jokic’s missed shots. Another two points were scored by Gobert when he bullied Jokic out of the way for an offensive rebound. Aside from those three dunks, the Wolves shot 2-for-10 during their own run to take over the game by four.

The Nuggets got enough stops to win. Their set defense didn’t fail them. Their offensive execution, shot-making and rebounding did.

The loss was punctuated by two uncharacteristically bad decisions on offense — one by Jokic with the ball in his hands, the other by Murray with the ball in his.

So naturally, their defense became the center of attention afterward.

“This is just a part of the rivalry,” Braun said. “I think that’s just part of what comes with it. I don’t think (the comments) caught anybody off-guard. He’s kind of speaking his truth and what he believes. We’ll allow them to do that. We kind of want to take care of our own things. … You shouldn’t need a fire lit under you in the playoffs.”

Indifference was the Nuggets’ overarching tone as they prepared for Game 3 on Thursday (7:30 p.m. MT) in Minneapolis. Even so, it was clear enough that McDaniels’ quote had been posted on a bulletin board somewhere in Ball Arena.

“They’ve just been saying a lot. All season. All series,” said Cam Johnson, who was one of the players named by McDaniels. “So let them talk. Let them get everything they want off their chest. We’re cool with it.”

The Nuggets collapsed against the Timberwolves. Again. They squandered a 19-point second quarter lead. It represented their biggest playoff meltdown since Minnesota erased a 20-point advantage two years ago.

The Timberwolves are the definition of annoying. Coach Chris Finch turns officiating into the Lincoln-Douglas debates. And their players relish talking smack.

Monday night, however, the team that cried wolf left the Nuggets with a bloody lip and crooked nose.

The postgame scene eloquently explained why this series has become greasy, if not spicy.

Aaron Gordon sat at his locker twirling the tape from his finger, unable to wrap his head around a stunning 119-114 defeat.

Christian Braun frowned into space, upset over missing a free throw with 19.1 seconds left.

And Jamal Murray looked spent, trying to make sense of how the Nuggets raced out to a 44-25 cushion and dissolved when it mattered most.

Down the hall, the Timberwolves popped off like they found the cheat code for Nikola Jokic. They blabbered about the Nuggets in a way more suited for a prize fight than a first-round NBA playoff series.

Just listen to how Jaden McDaniels described their offensive awakening over the final three quarters.

“Go after Jokic, Jamal, all the bad defenders. Tim Hardaway, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, the whole team, just go at them,” said McDaniels on the key to Minnesota’s attack. “Yeah, they’re all bad defenders.”

OK, this just got good. No more pretense. Or political correctness. This rivalry — the teams are 15-15 over their last 30 games — is on full volume and out in the open for everyone to see.

If the Nuggets don’t respond with vigor to McDaniels’ evisceration, they don’t deserve to play for a championship, let alone win one.

Given a chance to step on Minnesota’s throat, the Nuggets choked. Simple as that. Their bodies were too tired. The shots too short. Typically after a Denver-Minnesota postseason game, talk centers on a center. It did again.

Just not the one we expected.

Instead of dissecting another unicorn performance from Jokic, the discussion focused on how Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert won the one-on-one matchup.

Jokic scored two points in the fourth quarter, unable to solve Gobert’s range and length. It was a running theme.

Gobert held the three-time MVP to 1-for-8 shooting and four points over 20-plus minutes when he was on the floor. Jokic scored 20 points against everyone else, including wearing out Naz Reid for 12 in the third quarter, a strategy he should have employed sooner.

“(Gobert) is a really good defensive player. He makes you make tough shots. He’s big, has reach,” Jokic said. “He can take away any kind of angle or position.”

Gobert also had motivation. He has not defended Jokic well in the playoffs, but Game 2 offered a chance to make critics swallow their tongues.

As Anthony Edwards explained, “Everybody’s gonna say this and that about Rudy. People don’t understand what he means to us. They don’t want to lay the ball up around him. They don’t want to go at him.”

Before the game, the NBA announced Spurs star Victor Wembanyama as the Defensive Player of the Year. No surprise.

Gobert failing to finish in the top three in the voting, behind Chet Holmgren and Ausur Thompson, did not sit well with Finch.

“It’s a joke,” Finch said. “I thought it was incredibly disrespectful. It’s just laughable.”

Gobert tried to deflect the voting as a reason for Monday’s effort. He scored two points and had five fouls, but rarely has a box score been so misleading.

Gobert made everything hard. He turned every trip into the paint into an episode of “Naked and Afraid,” uncomfortable, awkward and desperate.

When the Nuggets broke out in the first quarter, they should have finished on cruise control. Instead, they ran into a 7-foot-1-inch high retaining wall on the back stretch.

They got Gobert-ed.

“I know who I am. It’s not the first time I have been disrespected. Probably not the last. I just have to be myself,” Gobert said of the awards voting. “If they want to disrespect greatness and take it for granted, sooner or later they will realize the impact.”

During clutch time over multiple possessions, Jokic was thwarted. The last two minutes were capsulized by Jokic eschewing a floater for a pass to Braun. What should have been a bucket turned into a single free throw.

“I was lucky. I am not a top 3 defender so I shouldn’t be able to do that,” Gobert quipped.

The easy narrative told through blue and yellow-tinted glasses is that the Nuggets missed shots they normally make. Especially late. There are not many examples where Jokic and Murray clank 10 of 12 shots in the fourth.

But this stumble felt more personal, more damning.

The Nuggets bench was shallow, too dependent on Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown. Jonas Valanciunas provided nothing. And Spencer Jones is a functional piece, but not someone capable of shifting momentum as Denver was torched in non-Jokic minutes, including an 11-0 second quarter run.

The truth is the Nuggets got cute, became intoxicated by their rocket launch. Every shot became an opportunity to get into transition. The problem is they stopped rebounding. They were outscored 20-3 on second chance points.

In January on a back-to-back, that is an effort statistic. Monday, it was the wrong mindset.

“We have to change ours,” coach David Adelman said.

The Nuggets lost because they were slow to adapt defensively in the second quarter. They wilted because they could not get anyone hot over the final 10 minutes when Jokic and Murray lost their aim.

These Nuggets are still good enough to dismiss the Timberwolves. But Monday, they folded.

They did not just get beat. They got punked.

How they respond Thursday will tell us everything we need to know about their toughness.

“I’m tired of waiting,” the Nuggets guard shared with nobody in particular on his way into the locker room. “It’s (expletive) playoff time, mother-(expletives).”

It might as well have been a thesis statement for his entire team’s headspace. The Nuggets live a charmed life, boasting the longest active streak of NBA playoff appearances in the Western Conference, and it can cause the dog days of the regular season to feel burdensome. Their annual struggle is to resist auto-pilot — especially at the end of the floor that requires more effort. Combine their human instinct and an unusually contagious injury bug this season, and the result was a bottom-10 defense in the NBA for the second consecutive year.

It didn’t show in Game 1 against the Timberwolves.

In what felt like an upside down start to the playoffs, the best 3-point shooting team in the league overcame a 1-for-17 second half with disciplined guarding. Braun took the lead on Edwards, and Denver held an opponent to 105 points or fewer for just the 15th time this year.

“Which is something we’ve been crying about the whole season,” Spencer Jones said, laughing. “So to be able to do it first game of the playoffs shows the intensity we can play at, and play at it consistently.”

The Nuggets shot 43.7% from the field and 27.8% from deep, their second-lowest clip of the year in a win. They were 15-22 in the regular season when they shot any worse than 49% overall, a sign of the strain they put on their historic offense nightly.

Defensive stops were manufactured up and down the lineup. Bruce Brown was Denver’s amplifier, compiling five steals off the bench in his first playoff game as a Nugget since the 2023 championship clincher. “Some guys might get mad at me, but I think he’s our most effective on-ball defender,” Jamal Murray said. “When he comes in, he’s up underneath guys. He’s not even fouling. And if he does foul, it’s stopping them from getting two points.”

Nuggets coach David Adelman praised him for “toeing the line that you need to toe in the playoffs.”

Aaron Gordon was predictably formidable as the primary matchup on Julius Randle, who never established a groove while scoring an inefficient 16 points. The Nuggets allowed less than a point per possession in 29 minutes with Gordon on the floor.

When he got in early foul trouble, Jones and Cam Johnson helped weather the storm against Minnesota’s offensive-minded fours, Randle and Naz Reid. Johnson displayed his understated versatility as an isolation defender throughout the series opener, forcing Randle and Edwards into tough shots despite mainly taking the Jaden McDaniels assignment. “Trying to bother the handle a little bit,” Johnson said. “Don’t let them get super rhythmic with it, because that’s when guys get comfy and hit shots.”

Nikola Jokic played his vintage up-to-touch ball screen coverage, giving Braun time to recover to Edwards when Minnesota wanted to put Jokic in the action (which was often). His defensive effort has been justifiably scrutinized at times this season, but the context is crucial. Denver’s new coaching regime — Adelman as the head man, Jared Dudley as his defensive coordinator — prefers to play the long game.

Their philosophy from the start was to devise a scheme that could help save Jokic’s legs for playoff basketball. They wanted him hanging out around the paint more during the regular season, despite his shortcomings as a rim protector. They didn’t want him to overexert himself with too much aggressive pick-and-roll defense, like he has typically played over the years to capitalize on his quick hands and high IQ. They’ve put him in a drop more often, or at the bottom of a zone, or they’ve they sought out cross-matches against non-shooters. “I don’t want him having him to go guard these guards on the wings, in rotations,” Dudley told The Post early in the season.

It was all in anticipation of this. Physical and mental fatigue played a factor in Denver’s last two season-ending losses, both second-round Game 7s. The sense around the team this year is that Jokic feels fresh. Adelman stumped for him after Game 1, pointing out unprompted that Jokic “was up (the floor) in pick-and-roll, like, 65 times. I know he gets killed defensively. But man, he’s in good shape.”

And at the center of this “grimy” series-opening win was Braun, who shouldered the Ant matchup that he’s grown all too familiar with in recent years. Edwards led the Timberwolves in scoring (22), but he looked nothing like his usual self in a labored 7-for-19 performance. Part of that may have been due to lingering runner’s knee; he had an opportunity to attack Murray in space on a late fourth-quarter possession, but as the Nuggets loaded up with help behind Murray, Edwards settled for a deep 3-point attempt instead of driving and kicking to an open teammate.

Part of it was Braun, who has the liberty to switch strategies on his own from possession to possession, Adelman said. The fourth-year guard, who turned 25 the day before the playoffs, has been growing more comfortable playing on his left ankle in the second half of the season. It still gets swollen and requires extra postgame treatment, residual effects of the ligament damage caused by a severe sprain last November.

“I thought CB was great,” Adelman said. “He’s guarding one of the best players in the world. … With Ant, you have to have somebody guarding him that will change up their own coverages sometimes. Take responsibility to not give him the same look every time. … You can trust CB that what he’s doing, there’s a reason for it. I realized this last year in the playoffs, when he really had an enormous role guarding the better players with (James) Harden then on to Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). You can trust him. Not all players are like that.”

Braun emerged as one of the Nuggets’ best Ant defenders during the 2024 playoffs, when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope struggled in the matchup. He left Denver in free agency that offseason, leaving a job opening in the starting lineup. Braun seized it, becoming the team’s lead defensive guard. He’s taken on most of the NBA’s premiere ball-handlers over the last two years, experiencing ups and downs as an over-screen defender in pick-and-roll. But he has grown accustomed to the mental resilience it takes to guard superstars in a league where good offense tends to trump good defense. He’s startlingly honest when he feels an opponent “kicked my (butt),” as Harden did in Game 1 of the playoffs last season.

“It was probably his best game of the series,” Braun recalled Saturday. “Then I kind of learned and I adjusted. I think in Game 7, obviously we took care of business and did a really good job on him. I think as the series went on, we kept me on him more and more. … I’m gonna learn what Ant does throughout the series, and it’s a series for a reason.”

Which is all to say, Braun and the Nuggets know they’re in no place to take a victory lap after one game of good defense.

Harden had 32 points and 11 assists in that Game 1. He fizzled out by Game 7, scoring seven points on eight shots.

The opposite trajectory is just as feasible, if Braun allows Edwards to get too comfortable on his knee as this series develops.

“Just be annoying the whole game,” Jokic said.

The entire roster took that edict to heart in Game 1, and the Timberwolves buckled under the pressure. McDaniels shoved Jokic in the back and picked up a dead ball technical foul. Randle failed to hustle back into the play after Denver snatched an offensive rebound on a 45-foot heave with two minutes left. Gordon punished him for his poor effort by getting wide open for a dunk. Then Randle committed two frustration fouls in an 11-second span as the game spiraled out of control for Minnesota. Wolves coach Chris Finch criticized his team’s lack of composure.

It stemmed from a Denver defense that had been hibernating for months, counting on its ability to suddenly jolt awake in April. It’s a risky blueprint, but it worked in Game 1.

“They tried to bully us a little bit in the front. We knew that was gonna happen. That’s how this team tries to get under our skin,” Jones said. “So for us to match it from beginning to end and never give in, and see them be the ones to kind of complain to the refs more than we were — it shows how focused we were.”

He jitter-bugged Donte DiVincenzo. He drop stepped Ayo Dosunmu. He left Naz Reid in the rearview. Even when he missed shots, he made the Timberwolves miserable.

Instead of talking about winning, they resorted to whining.

“Well, the 16 free throws for (Jamal) Murray is a head scratcher,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.

Really? That was the takeaway after the Nuggets throttled the Timberwolves over the final three quarters in a 116-105 Game 1 victory at Ball Arena?

Finch is a bright man. So it should come as no surprise that he began playing mind games by working the refs. But shouldn’t his guys just work harder guarding Murray without making contact?

“We played really good defense on him I thought. He initiates the contact, spills away and then he gets rewarded for it,” Finch said. “And (Nikola) Jokic does the same thing.”

Oh, here we go again.

Complaining about postseason whistles is like The Masters: a spring tradition unlike any other.

Word of the quip clearly had filtered into the Nuggets’ locker room before they met the media. Coach David Adelman provided a defense of Murray without being asked.

“He is special. He drew a lot of fouls. Because he got fouled,” Adelman said. “A lot.”

Coaches go to the podium and become the heckler in the bleachers, lobbing shots over foul shots. The motivation, left unsaid, is two-fold. Get into the officials’ ears. And try to get into a player’s head, in this case, Murray.

The chatter did not test Murray’s patience. More like his intelligence.

“I thought I got fouled on every single one of them. I don’t know what everybody is talking about,” Murray said. “They were real fouls.”

And the friction between these teams remains genuine.

There were multiple technicals. Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels soured a solid performance with a bush league push of Nikola Jokic in the back. Aaron Gordon provided a death glare to multiple Timberwolves in the subsequent scrum, suggesting he was ready to end anyone who took another cheap shot at the Nuggets’ star.

“It was physical,” said Jokic, who had as many turnovers (three) as points with four minutes remaining in the first half and finished with a triple-double. “There were ups and downs, runs. Whenever we play them, it’s always interesting.”

What made the opener fascinating is that it cemented how much Murray has evolved this season.

Nuggets fans have been waiting for this. Last time, the Nuggets faced the Timberwolves in a playoff game in Denver, he threw heating pads onto the court.

Saturday, he was running hot. And still causing trouble when he was not.

In a season that started with a challenge to prove he was an All-Star, Murray continues to make critics and opposing coaches look like they are full of it.

No more Bubble Jamal. Or playoff Murray. No delineation needed. He is just Jamal Murray, a soon-to-be All-NBA player who showed the Timberwolves why in a performance that was oddly beautiful.

“He has a lot of responsibility with a lot of different people guarding him. They are holding onto his jersey. This is a challenge,” Aldeman said. “He is so mentally strong. He fights through it.”

Hold your nose, Nuggets fans. JM became SGA. And it was glorious.

All of the grousing about reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander centers on his ability to turn the free-throw line into his own Airbnb.

Saturday, Murray gets a fair whistle and now suddenly he is gaming the system? Come on.

Murray dropped a pair of 50-piece games this season. He attempted five free throws in the first, and six in the last. He plays ethical basketball.

Any other assertion is a misconception. Or desperation (Looking at you coach Finch).

The Timberwolves ran multiple defenders at Murray. They blitzed him when Jokic was in the game. He failed to make a single 3-pointer, missing eight in all. And he finished with 30 because he set a career high in attempts (16) and makes (16) from the charity stripe.

“Irrelevant,” said Murray, when asked if he changes his game based on who is guarding him. “Somebody is chasing me. Somebody’s going to push me. And I get a screen. I score.”

Murray made three throws in the first quarter to keep the Nuggets tethered after a miserable 6-for-22 effort from the field. He converted eight in the second quarter and Denver drew even. And he drained five more after halftime, showing his improvement after failing to ice two games earlier in the season.

“Jamal is amazing. One of the best free-throw shooters in the game,” Jokic said. “When he’s aggressive, going to the rim and the ball is in his hand a lot, we are wholly confident he is going to make those (foul shots).”

He came to life beyond dead-ball moments. When the Nuggets were hanging on without Jokic, Murray sprang loose for a trademark one-handed floater in the third quarter.

And his most important shot, like all his 3s, was a miss. With 1:58 remaining, Murray retrieved a loose ball near half court and heaved a 43-footer as the shot clock expired.

“I was trying to make it,” Murray said.

He did not need it to go in. Just click the rim. As the Timberwolves began transfixed watching the ball, Bruce Brown, who provided a Red Bull jolt in the second quarter on both ends of the floor, grabbed the rebound. He found Murray. And he whipped a one-handed dime to Gordon.

Instead of Minnesota having the ball, down 106-101, the Nuggets led by eight.

That was it. There was no more fight left. The Nuggets won a game that was more paint-by-numbers than Picasso.

It was grimy. Ugly. And it was because of Murray.

Cry wolf somewhere else, coach. Nobody is buying it.

The Nuggets were stunted. Flustered. Worked up.

David Adelman was across midcourt. His protests were only causing more harm. Aaron Gordon was in deep foul trouble. He had just picked up his third of the first quarter, and Adelman had wasted his challenge trying to overturn it. He picked up a technical foul in the process for his indignance. The Timberwolves had brought their 2024 defense to Denver, and they were headed toward a 12-point lead. Nikola Jokic was turning it over. The role players were missing shots.

This all felt reminiscent of that cursed second-round series two years ago, when the Wolves and refs got in the Nuggets’ heads, when Denver lost three of four games at home.

The 2026 Nuggets were ready to take the first punch. They rallied to tie it by halftime, raced ahead in the third quarter, then held on in the fourth for a 116-105 Game 1 win over their rivals Saturday at Ball Arena. They’ve won eight of their last nine playoff Game 1s dating back to their championship run in 2023. Their only series-opening loss in that time was to Minnesota.

“It was the type of playoff game that you love to win because it was kind of ugly,” Adelman said. “… We were up against it right away. And that’s a big thing for a road team to come out, punch the home team in the mouth. That’s what they did after we missed shots. And just the reaction to that, staying together, winning a grimy game, it’s good. We’re gonna have games where we shoot the hell out of it and everything looks pretty, and everybody is gonna say how good we are. There’s no difference. You just win the game. And that’s what the game was tonight.”

Nuggets guard Christian Braun put it more simply after contributing 12 points and eight rebounds.

“When you win and you don’t play well,” he said, “I think that’s a good sign.”

Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 30 points on a 16-for-16 afternoon at the foul line, shaking off a slow start and a twisted right ankle after Jaden McDaniels closed out into his landing space on an early 3-point attempt. It was his 20th career 30-point playoff game, and he overcame an 0-for-8 outside shooting performance to get there. Jokic added 25 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Their two-man game picked apart Minnesota in the third quarter, generating clean scoring chances on nearly every possession.

Most importantly, Denver’s defense came to bat. It bided time for the offense during the first half, while nerves settled and turnovers slowly dissipated. It sank its teeth in during a 14-0 third-quarter run that broke the game open, holding the Wolves scoreless for more than four straight minutes.

“It was physical. It was ups and downs. Runs,” Jokic said. “… It always is about the runs and how you’re gonna react and how you’re gonna manage those runs. Are you gonna take bad shots, or are you gonna create open looks?”

Anthony Edwards, playing on a wobbly knee, led the Wolves with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Adelman was pleased with Braun’s defense against the star guard, who said he felt fatigued but healthy in the loss. Rudy Gobert added 17 and 10. Julius Randle struggled to assert himself, needing 16 shots to compile 16 points. He and Edwards combined to shoot 14 for 35. Minnesota coach Chris Finch called Murray’s 16 free throws a “head-scratcher” compared to his team’s 19 attempts.

“Ant was trying to snake. Just get a little tap on the ball and make him fumble it so he has to get back in front. The little details helped our defense a lot,” Murray said. “And for us, that leads to offense. So I felt like when we did make those runs, it was because of those little plays.”

The Wolves have been prone to mental lapses this season, and they bit themselves with one at a critical moment in the series opener. Murray was forced to heave a 45-footer at the shot clock buzzer after having the ball poked away with two minutes left — a rare example of a Nuggets possession that didn’t generate an open shot down the stretch. It should’ve been Minnesota’s ball down five. Instead, Murray’s heave grazed the rim, and the Timberwolves ball-watched, giving up an easy offensive rebound to Bruce Brown.

“I’d be mad if I didn’t hit rim,” Murray said.

Gordon capitalized with an open dunk to punctuate his 17-point, eight-rebound game.

“We know what this is. When Aaron plays, we’re a different team,” Adelman said. “It’s just the bottom line. It’s not the stats. It’s the feel. We feel bigger because we are.”

Peyton Watson was the only inactive player on either team. As he continues to recover from a right hamstring strain that he reaggravated on April 1, the growing sense around the team is that he’ll miss at least a couple more games, a source told The Post.

His absence was a troubling sign for the Nuggets’ bench depth and for their defensive options against Edwards. Adelman said earlier this week that he hoped to start the playoffs with “at least nine guys out there (to) see the rotation, how it works,” then to shorten his rotation throughout the series. With Watson ruled out for Game 1, it wasn’t so simple.

“I’ll say I’m gonna play eight and a half going in,” the first-year coach said before tip. “That’s kind of the way you look at it.”

Spencer Jones was the eighth man, making his playoff debut and checking in for the first time since March 29. The 24-year-old was sidelined by a right hamstring injury of his own late in the regular season, interrupting his momentum right after the Nuggets had found success with him as a quasi-backup center.

They had to rely on him and Cam Johnson at the four through most of the first half Saturday after Gordon got in foul trouble. Both were ready for the task defensively. Johnson put in good work against Randle and Edwards in isolation. Offensively, he had Edwards guarding him, so Denver tested Ant’s off-ball defense by calling a steady diet of plays early for Johnson. He scored 10 of his 12 points before halftime. The other two: a game-sealing floater with 53 seconds to go.

As for the ninth man to complete Adelman’s eight and a half? Jonas Valanciunas played the eight minutes Jokic was off the floor, attempting to match Rudy Gobert in size on the glass. Murray and Johnson staggered with the bench unit. The Timberwolves forced Murray to defend pick-and-rolls while Valanciunas was down the floor in coverage, resulting in a couple of pull-up 3s. But otherwise, Minnesota didn’t have enough reliable shot creation when Edwards and Randle were both off the floor. Murray got into a midrange rhythm during the second quarter, and Denver won the first non-Jokic minutes of the playoffs by seven to find new life.

That stint was a minus-five to start the fourth quarter, prompting Adelman to go back to Jokic with nine minutes left and a seven-point lead. Gobert was impressive in 1-on-1 defense against the three-time MVP most of the day, and he forced the Nuggets to respect him offensively by finishing through contact around the rim.

“If he plays like that,” McDaniels said, “we’re going to win (the series).”

But Jokic delivered a decisive sequence with six minutes remaining after Minnesota had cut it to two. Ayo Dosunmu was amping up the pressure. He handed the ball to Murray on the baseline after scoring, ready to pick him up full-court as the Wolves are fond of doing. After the Nuggets got the ball up, Jokic drained a tough floater over Gobert while getting fouled. He disrupted a pass by Randle at the other end, leading to a steal, then tipped in a missed 3-pointer in transition to put Denver back up 102-95.

The only thing standing between the Nuggets center and entry into the NBA’s list of top 10 all-time greats is another championship.

One more ring, one more parade to end the argument, and shove Shaquille O’Neal into the second tier.

The journey starts Saturday against rival Minnesota, then, if Waze can be trusted, through San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Boston. If Jokic guides the Nuggets to 16 wins, it would be his greatest achievement and silence the debate.

Jokic would sit officially and unquestionably at the big table, joining Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell and Kobe Bryant.

The singular accomplishment of doubling up the number of Nuggets’ banners will cut Jokic in front of Steph Curry, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jerry West, Kevin Durant and Oscar Robertson.

Jokic is not competing against the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards — though both will leave mouths agape over the next two weeks. He is competing against legends.

Jokic boasts three league MVP awards and has finished in the top two in the voting for five consecutive seasons. It’s a streak, while in jeopardy, that could extend this June. He is a Finals MVP.

He enters the playoffs with his knee healthy and nine straight wins with the regular starting lineup and 12 overall, the longest of his career. He is the best player on the planet again, and not just because he led the league in rebounds and assists, something forever unthinkable for a player standing 6-foot-11 and weighing 284 pounds.

Over the past 11 years, he has placed himself in a rare stratosphere. His brilliance cannot be ignored, and modern stars have recognized as much, including Durant. It took awhile to warm up to the idea that the unicorn lives below the rim and always makes the right play for his team, not his brand.

Why this topic before a first-round series?

Because of the way we talk about the league, its history and the playoffs. There is a constant variable regarding the all-time lists, especially the top 10.

Multiple championships.

In this era, it is harder than ever to pull off. There have been seven straight different title winners. No defending champion has reached the Western Conference Finals since 2019.

But not having a second ring is what separates Jokic from Abdul-Jabbar, Chamberlain and Russell, among others.

The reason to bring this up now is that this is the best roster Jokic has had around him.

Yes, this team is better than the 2023 group. There is no comparing the depth.

Denver has 10 players who have shot over 38 % from 3-point range, benefiting from the center’s vision and the space he creates on the court. The Nuggets feature the league’s most efficient offense, and Jokic is the sun, the hub of the universe. And, depending on the matchup, he has a legit backup in Jonas Valanciunas, an upgrade over DeAndre Jordan.

Given how the NBA works and how the collective bargaining agreement is structured, teams don’t get title shots every season. We saw this a year ago when the Nuggets, unwilling to go into the second apron, pretended they could reach the finish line with Russell Westbrook as their one quality reserve.

This year, they had the means, the room, and the GMs to assemble a championship roster.

The timing stinks. The path was much easier last season.

Other than the 1995 Houston Rockets, this might be the hardest bracket to navigate for a championship. But find a way, somehow, and it is time to acknowledge that the man equals the myth. Jokic will be mentioned in barstool chatter with LeBron and Jordan.

This is the type of series to begin cementing that status.

The Timberwolves are good and annoying. Since 2022, the teams have split 28 games, counting the playoffs. But since Minnesota traded Karl Anthony-Towns, Jokic has treated the Wolves like a chew toy, averaging 35 points per game.

“We just need to be the aggressor and set the tone,” Jokic said Wednesday.

At 31, you would think he wants the six days off before getting into the starter’s block. But that is one of the misconceptions. Jokic loves basketball. Yes, he adores his horses. That is a hobby. Hoops are his profession. He does not want to wait.

“To be honest, I don’t like it,” Jokic said. “Maybe it will help the guys who were injured, but I want to play right away.”

Things broke perfectly this season for roster construction. They found a taker for Michael Porter Jr., providing room to add Bruce Brown and Valanciunas. And they landed a deadly sniper willing to sign at a clearance-rack price in Tim Hardaway Jr.

Spencer Jones should return Saturday, but uncertainty surrounds Peyton Watson. When healthy, the Nuggets have so many options in terms of style of play. They can go small. They can go big. They can run, which is when they are at their best. And they can slow it down and let Jokic dominate on post-ups.

There is no guarantee this team will look anything like this a year from now.

Therein lies the urgency.

As it stands, Jokic is in a conversation beneath him.

He is arguably the greatest player to win only one title. The group features West. He is “The Logo,” “Mr. Clutch,” a 14-time All-Star, who went 1-8 in the NBA Finals, though he was the only losing player to win MVP in 1969.

It includes Moses Malone. Like Jokic, he is a three-time MVP, known as the “Chairman of the Boards” for his ridiculous rebounding. It continues with Robertson, “The Big O.” He made 12 All-Star teams, but only one appeared in the Finals twice.

Dirk Nowitzki only has one. Kevin Garnett, too.

So does Giannis Antetokounmpo, a modern comp to Jokic, though he lacks the Nuggets star’s overall offensive prowess.

After the Thunder eliminated Denver last season, Jokic offered up a candid assessment. The Nuggets required more depth. Well, they’ve got it.

“To win a championship, you need the guys to step up at the right moment. If it is not your night one game, it’s OK because the next one is coming soon,” Jokic said. “I think we need everybody on our roster. Everybody needs to step up.”

It is time. The league’s best and most unselfish player deserves another ring to crash the all-time top 10 party.

Nuggets vs. Timberwolves matchups: Who has the edge?

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Backcourt

Anthony Edwards and Jamal Murray are better players than they were in 2024. They’ve both increasingly embraced the 3-point line to great effect. Murray launched 127 more than his previous career-high this season, shooting 43.5% clip on 7.5 attempts per game. He’ll likely be rewarded with his first All-NBA nod. Edwards is 39.6% on 9.5 attempts per game over the last two years, up from 35.3% on 7.4 in the first four of his career. Nobody on earth craves the ball more than him. He’s the cockiest player in the NBA and arguably one of the five best. Pick-and-roll pull-up 3s have become one of his favorite shots to hunt — especially against teams that struggle with screen navigation like Denver.

How Edwards and Murray are guarded could evolve over the course of the series. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was Denver’s primary perimeter defender in 2024. He’s long gone. Christian Braun has been inconsistent at keeping Edwards in front of him, but he’s likely to start games with the assignment. Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown, Spencer Jones or Peyton Watson (if he’s healthy) could take shifts. The case for a Minnesota upset starts with the Nuggets being a bad 1-on-1 defensive team. They’ll likely have to send two to Edwards and find creative ways to force the ball out of his hands without compromising their 3-on-4 defense behind the double. Their zone will probably make an appearance at some point, with two at the top magnetized to Ant. Blitzing him on ball screens will test his capability — and just as importantly, his willingness — to make the right read out of the advantage he creates.

Murray is the more advanced playmaker of the two, and he has the benefit of sharing the court with an offensive weapon who demands even more attention than him. But if he’s bringing the ball up, he should expect the Timberwolves to replicate their full-court pressure that caused him so many headaches in 2024.

More likely, the Nuggets will run plenty of sets with him coming off pin-downs and other screens to catch in the flow of their half-court offense, sparing him from the burden of initiating every possession. Murray can breathe a sigh of relief that Nickeil Alexander-Walker left Minnesota for greener pastures in free agency last summer, diminishing the Wolves’ on-ball defensive firepower. Their matchup choices will be fascinating here. Two years ago, Ant often guarded Murray himself and was up to the challenge. His commitment to defense has fluctuated throughout this season (understandable when you’re also the team’s offensive engine). Is he prepared to handle a healthier, more polished Blue Arrow? Or is that a job for Jaden McDaniels alone?

Minnesota’s de facto Alexander-Walker replacement is Ayo Dosunmu, a brilliant trade deadline acquisition who thrives in transition, shoots 44% from deep and could also guard Murray off the bench — if he doesn’t get moved into the starting lineup at some point. Both teams have a veteran, sharpshooting two-guard with a fiery competitive edge. It’s 82-game starter Donte DiVincenzo for Minnesota; it’s Sixth Man of the Year candidate Tim Hardaway Jr. for Denver. Either of these guys could pop off and steal a game for their team at some point in this series.

But so much of this rivalry comes down to Ant, as compelling a Nuggets villain as any. “I think there’s a lot of rivalries in the league right now,” he said Wednesday, “and me and Denver is one them.” For the sake of great television, here’s hoping his recent knee injury doesn’t become a storyline in this series. Who has the edge? Timberwolves.

Frontcourt

This is the first playoff clash between the Nuggets and Timberwolves since the latter swapped out a pretty important variable in its frontcourt — Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle (and DiVincenzo). The surprise blockbuster trade has aged confusingly for Minnesota and New York. Both teams went to the conference finals in 2025. Yet both players have a particular knack for getting their fan bases worked up by their flaws and inconsistencies.

Randle built a decent All-Star candidacy for himself early this season, but struggled at both ends in the second half. He’s 29.9% from 3-point range since Jan. 1. When he and Rudy Gobert are both on the floor, Minnesota’s spacing can get wonky if Randle doesn’t have the ball in his hands. Those lineups risk giving the Nuggets an easy out when they want to defend Edwards aggressively. Over the years, they’ve been more than happy to leave Gobert — a notoriously clunky offensive center — wide open on the short roll. If they’re also willing to ignore Randle on the perimeter, his off-the-catch shooting could become a pressure point in the matchup. KAT’s deadeye 3-point shooting and Gobert’s defensive acumen complemented each other beautifully when Minnesota eliminated Denver two years ago.

Randle is dangerous with the ball, though. Where he’s an upgrade from KAT is in his ability to hunt mismatches and attack smaller defenders. Gordon will guard him for the vast majority of this series and might even mirror minutes, but if the Nuggets try to put him on Edwards at any point, they don’t have great secondary options for Randle. (Zeke Nnaji might be their best bet, but he’s highly unlikely to see the court unless Denver is in foul trouble.) Watson doesn’t have enough strength to hold his ground against the 6-foot-9 power forward. Braun might be to size up to him occasionally, but not probably consistently enough for Denver to give up a switch every time. Could David Adelman test out Jones? It would be a tough assignment for a former two-way player who’s coming off a hamstring injury as he prepares for his first career playoff minutes.

As weird as it sounds, defense might be where the Wolves miss KAT most in this matchup. (This is where Nikola Jokic’s name is finally uttered.) Two years ago, Towns was their primary defender on Jokic, allowing Gobert to roam as a help-side rim protector. KAT is rather famously not known for his defense, but his ability to rise to the occasion and match Jokic’s physicality throughout that series was a remarkable feat, allowing Gobert to do what he does best. It was a huge reason the Timberwolves advanced.

Randle is nowhere near as viable in that scheme, in part because he gives up multiple inches to Jokic, unlike Towns. “Probably gotta call God and talk to him for a little bit and ask him for a few favors,” Randle said this week when asked about how to guard the three-time MVP center. Jokic is averaging 35.5 points, 11.3 rebounds and 10.4 assists in eight games against Minnesota since the KAT trade, shooting 62.1% from the field. Randle and Gobert played in all eight. How often will the Wolves want to try the Randle matchup arrangement? How long will they be willing to stick with it? Gobert is an all-time defender, but if he has to guard Jokic straight up, Jokic typically finds ways to win that battle as well (and Minnesota tends to double-team his post-ups less than other teams do).

One of the most effective strategies against Jokic around the NBA has been to front him with a smaller player who can get away with more contact. (See Alex Caruso, Game 7 in Oklahoma City.) The Timberwolves could try that with a scrappy guard like DiVincenzo, a lanky athletic wing like McDaniels, or even with veteran forward Kyle Anderson, a buyout acquisition who was also pursued by Denver. Adelman predicted Edwards could try to guard Jokic at some point. Whichever way the Wolves configure their matchups, their help defense will be coming from Braun this year instead of Gordon, who has evolved into a lethal spot-up shooter since 2024. Braun regressed to 30% from 3-point range this season while battling an ankle injury. He’ll be the disregarded role player if and when Rudy roams. Minnesota is more likely to stay home on Cam Johnson, whether it’s McDaniels matching up — he’s the best perimeter defender in this series — or DiVincenzo. Who has the edge? Nuggets.

Bench depth

Both coaches will have to gauge how deep they want to go into their benches early in this series, which could lead to some interesting dynamics. Minnesota has at least two high-level reserves in Dosunmu and backup big man Naz Reid. Beyond that, Chris Finch’s rotation could vary night to night. Anderson adds value as a defender and playmaker, but lineups involving him will also sacrifice spacing. Terrence Shannon Jr. or ex-Nugget Bones Hyland could be used as a sparkplug if Minnesota needs scoring. Mike Conley is a veteran with Finch’s supreme trust; his ability to eat minutes could be tested.

When the Nuggets are healthy, they have known entities off their bench in Watson, Hardaway and Brown, though their trust in Watson as a ball-handler might be tested in these playoffs. The backup center minutes will be a fascinating element of this series in particular. If the Wolves make sure Reid is on the court whenever Jokic isn’t, they might be able to take away Jonas Valanciunas completely. Reid can pick-and-pop teams to death, and the easiest way to guard him on the perimeter might be with a more switchable lineup, using Jones at the five. On the other hand, if the Nuggets want to force the issue, they could try to get Valanciunas a few minutes against Gobert, though that might mean altering Jokic’s sub pattern. Julian Strawther is Denver’s Shannon equivalent — a young guard who’s probably out of the rotation but capable of changing a game if he gets hot. Who has the edge? Timberwolves — until Watson and Jones are cleared.

— Bennett Durando, The Denver Post

Nuggets vs. Timberwolves: 5 storylines to watch

Frenemies: Channels of communication are wide open between these two franchises, based on their hiring practices. Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly left Denver for Minnesota in 2022, taking front-office employees like Jon Wallace with him. Wallace left the Wolves last summer for the co-general manager job back in Denver. Both head coaches have been assistants for the other team. And don’t forget Minnesota guard Bones Hyland, who the Nuggets once traded in an addition-by-subtraction deadline move the year they won the title.

The end of the trilogy: The Nuggets took down Minnesota in 2023, beginning their road to the first championship in franchise history. It was only a five-game first-round series, but the seeds of begrudging respect were nonetheless planted, as Bruce Brown described it as the toughest series Denver had played. The Wolves got payback in 2024 with a 20-point second-half comeback to win Game 7 at Ball Arena. Eight current Denver players were on that team. They haven’t forgotten the sting.

The beginning of the road: The Nuggets are facing a nightmarish path to the NBA Finals, with arguably the three best teams in the West (other than themselves) standing in their way. First, it’s Minnesota. Second and third, barring upsets, are San Antonio and Oklahoma City. If Denver can somehow get through this series efficiently, it would do wonders for the team’s stamina and health going forward. Game 7s are likely in store eventually if the Nuggets are going to pull off a run for the ages.

Rudy vs. Joker: This is the fourth playoff clash between them, dating back to Gobert’s time in Utah. Way back then in the 2020 bubble, a memorable first-round series ended with Jokic scoring a beautiful hook shot over Gobert to give Denver the lead for good with 27 seconds left in Game 7. “I like his humility,” Gobert said this week. “I think he’s someone that doesn’t really care about the outside noise. He’s just here to show up, help his team win and go home. I like that. I respect that.” Jokic hates to admit it, but his eyes often light up at the opportunity to prove the best offense is superior to the best defense. The Joker vs. Rudy post-ups will be highlights in this series, one way or the other.

Wild card Watson: Peyton Watson’s lack of a contract extension has loomed over his breakout fourth season. He’s entering a crucial playoff run now that should be significant in determining his value as a restricted free agent this summer. But a suddenly gimpy right hamstring stands between him and the spotlight right now. He missed 25 of Denver’s last 30 regular-season games after suffering a grade two strain on Feb. 4. It’s been more than two weeks since he last played, and Denver still has some anxiety about his status. If and when he’s able to return, he may have to find ways to be impactful that don’t appear on the stat sheet. His on-ball and help-side defense will be invaluable to the Nuggets if they’re going to make a deep run.

Nuggets vs. Timberwolves series predictions

Bennett Durando, Nuggets beat writer: I’ve got too much respect for Ant, and too much lingering skepticism about Denver’s point-of-attack defense, to predict a short series. But two years after the Wolves danced on Denver’s grave, I think the Nuggets return the favor. This one ends in Minnesota’s house. Nuggets in six.

Troy Renck, sports columnist: This is a real rivalry. Since 2022, counting the regular and postseason, the teams are 14-14 over 28 games. But Minnesota is no longer the boogeyman. Anthony Edwards is a human highlight, but has not been healthy. He might steal a game. He is not swiping a series. The Nuggets will win the offensive boards, and even if Christian Braun struggles from 3 when dared to shoot, Minnesota will have no answer for Nikola Jokic. As is always the case when these two play. Nuggets in six.

Sean Keeler, sports columnist: Keep those rosary beads handy whenever Aaron Gordon grabs his hammy. The Nuggets didn’t have Cam Johnson, Bruce Brown or Tim Hardaway Jr. in the 2024 conference finals — and Hardaway has been a quiet thorn in the side of Minnesota defenders for years. This is why you got ’em. Nobody can really guard Anthony Edwards when he wants it. Same for Nikola Jokic. If the Nuggets get more offense from THEIR wings than Minnesota gets from Gobert/Randle, they’ll be good. Ant-Man says the Wolves sandbagged the regular season. Prove it. Nuggets in seven.

Luca Evans, sports reporter: Anthony Edwards has hit the peak of flame-throwing powers like never before seen in 2025-26, which puts somewhat suspect Denver perimeter defense under massive stress. The Timberwolves have an ascending Jaden McDaniels to toss at Jamal Murray, and rotational options at center with all-time-great defender Rudy Gobert and sixth man Naz Reid. But the Nuggets have finally unlocked their late-game flow across this 12-game winning streak, and are ready for revenge in Minnesota. Nuggets in seven. 

Nate Peterson, sports editor: The fix for the Nuggets’ Ant problem? Too much offense and just enough defense to win the 2026 Tim Connelly Bowl. Denver has reeled off 12 straight wins entering the playoffs, and with Aaron Gordon healthy and Spencer Jones and Peyton Watson likely available to start this series, Minnesota will avoid a sweep but won’t push this thing the distance. The Nuggets’ starting five with AG has obliterated opponents all season long with a +12.5 net rating. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s starting five with a less explosive Ant-Man has limped to the finish line with only a +0.1 net rating since the All-Star break. Nuggets in five. 

If the Nuggets were trying to steer clear of Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves in the NBA Playoffs, they’d have pulled Nikola Jokic out of the Spurs game Sunday after about 40 seconds instead of the half.

Load management in April should apply to Timberwolves faithful, too.

Especially when it’s a load of complete and utter crapola.

“You can’t duck opponents and (the Spurs) didn’t want to duck us,” Denver coach David Adelman said after the Nuggets won in San Antonio with a little Joker and a lot of bench mob minutes to clinch the 3 seed in the West. “We’re not ducking anybody.”

And why should they?

This ain’t 2024 anymore. The Nuggets took three of four from Minnesota, their first-round playoff opponent, during the regular season. Denver scored at least 108 points against the T-Wolves in all four of those meetings, something they haven’t done against their conference rivals since the 2020-21 season.

We’ve heard plenty of yapping about how Tim Connelly, Minnesota’s president of basketball operations, built the Nuggets into a championship club, then went north to build a beast that could nullify their strengths.

Only that pipeline works both ways now, boys and girls. The Kroenkes last June hired Jon Wallace to be Denver’s new executive vice president of player personnel, snapping him up from … Minnesota, where Wallace worked in the Twin Cities under Connelly, his old Nuggets boss, for three seasons.

You usually don’t land good free agents without some stellar work by various double agents first. Which is why it’s probably not a coincidence that one of the first things Wallace and front-office partner Ben Tenzer did once they got the keys was sign a player who drove Minnesota defenders up the Berlin Wall.

The Nuggets that Minnesotans have labeled an easy mark didn’t have this version of Peyton Watson two years ago. Or this version of Julian Strawther. Or Bruce Brown. Or Cam Johnson. Or Jonas Valanciunas. Or Tim Hardaway Jr.

Hardaway fit Adelman’s system like a glove. He settled in as the perfect shooting complement to Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. And Wallace had remembered how No. 10 used to light up the T-Wolves like it was Christmas in Times Square.

Hardaway, the Nuggets’ veteran sixth man, heads into the series averaging 16.6 points per game against Minnesota during the regular season over a 12-year NBA career. He’s averaged 2.7 treys against the T-Wolves lifetime. Hardaway was good for 3.8 3-pointers and 19.6 points per game against Minnesota this year. The 6-foot-5 wing knocked down second-most treys ever (224) in a season by a Nugget who wasn’t Murray (245). He passed Michael Porter Jr. (220) for second place on that list next week, and isn’t getting nearly enough love nationally for NBA Sixth Man of the Year honors.

“I don’t know how he’s not (getting more),” Murray noted recently. “He’s scoring in bunches. He’s not just coming in and just making shots. He’s doing a lot. He’s talking. He’s into the ball. He’s engaged in every shot. He’s engaged in every opportunity he has. He’s a starter out there.”

More importantly for this matchup, he’s a starter who’ll play a lot in those non-Jokic minutes where the Timberwolves used to feast. Two years ago against Minnesota in the conference semis, the Nuggets’ bench was outscored by the Wolves’ bench by an average of 24-17 per tilt during the series. Over the seven games, only once (Game 5) did Denver’s reserves outscore Minnesota’s (16-15). Take out Game 5, and the Nuggets’ bench got boat-raced by almost 10 points per contest (26-17).

Hardaway changes that math.

Gordon’s hamstring notwithstanding, No. 10 might be the most important Nugget — or “swing” Nugget — in the entire series.

Since the fall of 2019, Hardaway’s teams are 8-4 in the regular season against Minnesota whenever he’s scored 19 points or more. The Nuggets were 14-6 (.700) during the ’25-26 regular season when he put up at least 19 points. When he made at least four treys in a game, Denver went 20-8 (.714).

In their last four playoff games vs. Minnesota two springs ago, the Nuggets got seven 3-point makes, total, from their bench. In his four appearances against the Wolves with Denver this season, Hardaway drained 15 treys. All by himself.

This ain’t 2024 anymore. Hardaway Jr. has won 10 of his last 18 visits to Minneapolis and sports a 2-0 career mark there during the NBA postseason. He’s averaged 15.5 points in the Twin Cities as a pro and put up 21.5 per game against the Minnesota Gophers while at Michigan.

“He knows how to affect the game in his own way and just be super aggressive,” Murray said of Hardaway after he helped topple Denver outlast the Timberpups this past December. “He understands the game — time of the game, flow of the game, where to find shots, (and how to) just be a winner. He cares about playing hard.

“Whether he’s missing or making shots, he keeps that same energy, that same aggressiveness. That’s all you can ask for. He has been a true veteran for us.”

This ain’t 2024 anymore. These Nuggets have got their ducks in a row. And watching the Timberwolves goofs who’ve barked on social media eat their words is going to be absolutely quacktacular.

Denver and Minnesota are meant for each other. Nikola Jokic and Anthony Edwards might be meant to do this forever.

“We’re not ducking anybody,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said after a limited version of his team knocked off the Spurs, 128-118, to clinch the No. 3 seed in the NBA playoffs.

Easy to say now, certainly. But Denver had earned the right to talk by upending expectations with two short-handed wins in the final weekend of the regular season. One against Oklahoma City. One at San Antonio. The result is a third Nuggets vs. Timberwolves playoff series in four years. Call it a rubber match.

“We’ve played so many times over the years — playoffs, regular season,” Adelman said. “We know each other, with Tim (Connelly) over there and Chris Finch and Micah (Nori) and those guys. So we know it’s gonna be a battle. It always is with that team.”

The optics surrounding Denver’s decision to rest all five starters Friday and four of them Sunday were suspicious. Minnesota was locked as the No. 6 seed, waiting for the third-place finisher. Were the Nuggets running scared from their rivals? Were they still haunted by the image of Ant Man taunting fans on his way out of Ball Arena after a 20-point Game 7 comeback two years ago? Did they prefer the cushier first-round matchup against the Rockets?

“We won the game. So we didn’t mess with the game. Simple as that,” said backup center Jonas Valanciunas, who had warned on Friday that gaming the system is begging for bad karma. “We did everything. No matter who’s playing, we played hard. Coming out of timeouts, after the halftime, during the quarters, we played hard no matter what. And that’s our face. That’s our identity. That’s what we’re gonna do until the end of the season.”

Nuance in Nuggets’ playoff path

Two things can be true at once. It wasn’t lost on the Nuggets that they’re better equipped to contain Kevin Durant than most superstars (including Edwards), in part because KD is simply not looking to get around his defender and score at the rim as often as most primary shot creators. Edwards is young, spry and a certified blow-by threat in addition to his jump-shooting pedigree. Lump that in with the overexposure these teams have had to each other, and yes, the Timberwolves are probably a tougher matchup on paper.

And yet, as team sources detailed to The Denver Post in recent days, there was enough nuance to this whole playoff path debate — Minnesota then San Antonio? Houston then OKC? — that the arguments canceled each other out. Health was the one controllable variable that was unambiguous. A decision was reached with front office involvement and input from key players such as Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, a source told The Post: Injury avoidance mattered more than seeding.

That didn’t mean the people playing and coaching the games didn’t care about the results.

That much was clear from the enthusiasm on Denver’s bench Sunday, and from the effort put forth by Jokic. He was only on the court to meet a games-played quota so that he could appear on MVP and All-NBA ballots. But he turned the obligatory work trip into an aggressive display of offense, scoring 23 first-half points to the tune of “overrated” chants.

“I think he embraced it because how hard those guys were playing with him,” Adelman said. “And I think there’s a respect value there when he sees guys playing for opportunities. And a guy like him that’s done everything in this game, I think he respects that. And I heard the ‘overrated.’ I don’t know about the ‘overrated’ thing.”

The 65-game minimum wasn’t the only new-age NBA rule that Jokic was up against in San Antonio, it turns out. One of the lingering questions this weekend was why the Nuggets would rest Jokic on Friday but make him travel to Texas if the plan was for him to play only one of the last two games. After all, his fellow starters stayed home in Denver. Why not manage him in reverse? According to a source, it was largely because the Nuggets-Spurs game was flexed to a national broadcast (ESPN) earlier in the week, making Denver subject to a Player Participation Policy fine if both Jokic and Murray sat out.

The PPP stipulates that teams cannot rest multiple healthy star players in the same game, with stricter enforcement for nationally televised games. The Nuggets didn’t have to worry about that until recently, because a star player is defined by the rule as someone selected to an All-Star or All-NBA team in the last three years. Murray wasn’t either of those until February. Denver is finally a multi-star team.

If Jokic was already going to play 15 minutes this weekend to satisfy one rule, the Nuggets decided they might as well make sure they satisfy another.

They were also at least somewhat influenced, according to three sources, to choose the San Antonio game by the players opposite Jokic on Friday and Sunday. More specifically, Denver was wary of Lu Dort’s tendency to be involved in plays that result in opponents being injured. The Thunder wing was confronted by Jokic earlier this season after sticking out his hip and leg to trip the Nuggets center. Dort was ejected, and he said later that he apologized to Jokic. He was the only Oklahoma City starter who played Friday, and he earned boos from Denver when his forearm struck Nuggets wing David Roddy in the face during a rebound.

In San Antonio, Jokic was facing an old friend, ex-Nuggets center Mason Plumlee. Denver raced to a 23-point lead and never looked back. Except maybe six or seven times during the fourth quarter.

“We’re coming together. We’re playing great,” Bruce Brown said. “We’re getting stops. Main thing was our defense. Each game, we’re getting better and better.”

‘A little rivalry’ with Wolves

On the topic of Minnesota, Denver’s most relevant players who made the trip to San Antonio didn’t have many initial thoughts to share about the matchup. But Brown entertained this much: “I guess you could say it’s a little rivalry.”

“We’ll be a Tuesday start for prep,” Adelman said. “Tomorrow is a (day off) for players, but also for coaches. That allows us to get ourselves prepared, organize the first couple days of practice, and you kind of work your way off those practices. See what you’ve missed, what didn’t go well, fill in the blanks.”

If there’s one immediate and obvious advantage to facing the Timberwolves, it’s that Adelman already knows them like the back of his hand.

As for any perceived disadvantages? Now he can claim definitively that Denver isn’t and wasn’t scared.

Even if Connelly, Ant and the other Wolves choose to interpret the subtext of this past weekend as bulletin board material.

“You can’t duck opponents,” Adelman said. “And they didn’t want to duck us. We’re not ducking anybody. And everybody talks about the best matchup and all these things. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. And if you’re asking to play against Kevin Durant … what? So the opponent’s the opponent. And we have a ton of respect for them, as I know they do for us. It’s gonna be a hell of a series.”