A month after their capitulation against the Timberwolves, the Nuggets have made watching the NBA Finals a painful experience.

Lost in the headlines of the breathtaking Victor Wembanyama squaring off against the soul-crushing Jalen Brunson is a buried nugget that relates to the Nuggets.

In Game 1, the Spurs used 10 players, including 12 minutes from ABA veteran Harrison Barnes and 10 from backup center Luke Kornet. Ten players logged in for the Knicks, including nine with at least 11 minutes. Landry Shamet clocked 33. Entering Game 2, the last time New York lost was April 23.

Which brings us back to Denver and its rookie coach’s mistake. The offseason was dedicated to trading Michael Porter Jr. to reinforce the bench. The Nuggets added Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown and Jonas Valanciunas, providing more suitable roles late in the season for Julian Strawther and eventually Tyus Jones.

And yet, they became ghosts until it was too late. Even with Aaron Gordon hurt, even with Jamal Murray suffocating under the Saran-Wrap tight defense of Jaden McDaniels, David Adelman leaned on a seven-man rotation.

It brought back memories of last postseason when the Nuggets bench was Russell Westbrook. Singular.

Hardaway delivered a pedestrian performance with 10.8 points in 23 minutes per game, but never percolated from beyond the arc. Bruce Brown looked out of sync, assuming a spark plug role at home and a cheerleader spot on the road. Brown netted 19.2 minutes a game, scoring 6.3 points, but with nearly two turnovers. Spencer Jones was the only player to exceed reserve expectations with 6.5 points in 24 minutes.

And for all of the bluster about keeping Nikola Jokic fresh, Valanciunas was nonexistent. He was bad when he was in, but was it because Adelman clearly lost confidence in him? Why not use him as a roughneck to foul McDaniels hard early in Game 3 and Game 4?

The Bonus Jonas brother only appeared in four games vs. Minnesota, contributing 2.8 points and 1.3 turnovers in 6.3 minutes.

And don’t get me started about Strawther and Jones. Strawther appeared twice, logging 18 total minutes and making two shots. Jones checked into three games, and clearly should have been used sooner in the series to take pressure off Murray to initiate the offense with Gordon hurt.

Jones was solid, averaging 1.7 assists and no turnovers in his 30 minutes.

The Thunder, Spurs and Knicks look so far away, the Nuggets could have telescope night for the first 5,000 fans on opening night and no one would blanch.

This is a critical offseason for the Nuggets. They need to trade multiple players, starting with Cam Johnson and Gordon. But they cannot move forward without Adelman learning lessons.

Nobody wants to hear about the defensive metrics ranking better than expected against Minnesota. The Nuggets failed the eye test. And they were not athletic enough.

But if the playoffs tell us anything, it is that depth matters. Adelman will be given decent bench players. If the Nuggets are going to surprise anyone next postseason, he must do a better job of using them.

Don’t Bet On It: Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby trampled the NCAA gambling rules. Hopefully, the treatment he received for his addiction takes. However, Sorsby wants a judge to grant him an injunction to play this season. Please. Sorsby bet on games involving teams he was on. He should be banned. Full stop. Allowing him to return makes a mockery of any rules on the subject.

Sing along: College baseball getting a bump with so many upsets in the regionals was fantastic. The lasting story? West Virginia fans and players singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver after knocking out Kentucky. Understand, it is not a song in West Virginia. It is an anthem. It is played after sporting events and “it is almost always the last song played at a wedding reception,” said Cathy Rennard, president and CEO of Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg. “It is wonderful the way that it connects people.”

The league’s board of governors voted last week to institute a new system known as the “,” diminishing the worst teams’ odds of being awarded the No. 1 overall draft pick. The changes — which are designed to disincentivize teams from intentionally losing for draft positioning — will take effect in 2027.

• Sixteen teams will be in the lottery, up from 14 in the old system.
• A lottery drawing will be held to determine all 16 picks, rather than just the first four. (In the old system, Nos. 5-14 were determined by worst record in order of the remaining teams that did not receive a top-four pick in the lottery drawing.)
• The bottom three teams in the NBA can pick no lower than 12th. The remaining lottery teams can pick anywhere between No. 1 and No. 16.
• The bottom three teams in the NBA have only two lottery balls, resulting in a 5.4% chance of receiving the No. 1 overall pick and a 16% chance of getting a top-three pick. The seven remaining teams that miss the Play-In Tournament have three lottery balls, meaning an 8.1% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 24% chance of landing in the top three.
• The No. 9 and No. 10 Play-In seeds in each conference will receive two lottery balls each (same odds as the bottom three teams in the league), while the losers of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 Play-In games in each conference will receive one lottery ball each.

Nuggets team president and KSE vice chairman Josh Kroenke was on the competition committee that mulled over various solutions to the years-long tanking epidemic. But for the most part, the Nuggets have watched this issue take hold of the league from a safe distance, perched above the lower class of the league’s perpetual pursuit of the next superstar. They already have theirs. Nikola Jokic is coming off a sixth straight year as either MVP or runner-up, and Denver possesses the longest active streak of playoff appearances in the Western Conference at eight years. Tanking has not crossed this team’s mind in quite some time.

Still, the 3-2-1 reform will have ripple effects across the NBA — among them, a recontextualization of recent transactions.

Trade value on future draft picks

One widely anticipated downwind result of this new system is that the perceived trade value of future draft picks will change. First-round picks that belong specifically to the very worst teams will be less valuable than ever. But those odds have subsequently been redistributed, introducing more randomness than ever before (especially with 16 teams in the mix, instead of 14). That means more hope for more teams. Most first-rounders should therefore heighten in value, as middle-class teams will feel more inclined to keep their picks and cross their fingers.

Owning a high quantity of picks gives you a better chance at franchise-changing luck than owning one high-quality pick (or one that was previously considered high-quality). Stockpiling first-rounders in bulk is advantageous. Two teams in the West have done that especially well over the last few years, it just so happens: Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

Denver’s two most threatening adversaries in the conference have . That’s near-infinite flexibility to continue building through the draft, or to pursue upgrades on the trade market, or to pivot around the tax apron.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets are the only team in the league without a single trade-eligible future first-round pick. (The ones they do own, they’re forbidden from trading because of the Stepien Rule that requires teams to own at least one first-rounder every other year.)

Denver is allowed to trade this year’s pick (No. 26) on draft night, but the front office’s flexibility is severely limited beyond that. Only two future seconds are available to trade. Former general manager Calvin Booth made it his annual strategy to sacrifice future draft capital for immediate late first-round and early second-round talent — players he believed could be plug-and-play contributors for a championship team, such as Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett and DaRon Holmes II. Those four players combined to log 26 minutes in Denver’s first-round playoff series against the Timberwolves this year.

The Nuggets were particularly cavalier with second-rounders in the 2024 offseason, which turned out to be Booth’s last at the helm. They sacrificed 2024, 2026 and 2031 picks to move up six spots and get Holmes 22nd overall. They also traded their 2025, 2029 and 2030 seconds to salary-dump Reggie Jackson and make room on the depth chart for Russell Westbrook. Their 2027 and 2028 second-round picks were already owed to other teams at that point.

The good news: The 2027 and 2029 first-round picks that Denver traded in recent years are top-five protected, in case the Nuggets slip into one of the 16 lottery spots. The bad news: Both picks are owed to … Oklahoma City.

Lucky timing for the Spurs

Another rule being implemented: Teams cannot draft No. 1 overall in consecutive years, nor can they be awarded a top-five pick in the lottery for three consecutive years. The idea here is to dissuade teams from prolonging their rebuilds.

But unfortunately for the Nuggets and other championship contenders, it’s all happening a little too late to slow down the Spurs.

Their meteoric rise to the NBA Finals required more than one stroke of luck. After San Antonio drafted Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick in 2023, it received the No. 4 pick in 2024 (Stephon Castle) and the No. 2 pick in 2025 (Dylan Harper). That would no longer be permitted under the new system. But it worked out swimmingly for the Spurs: Their trio of top-five picks combined for 50 points on 50% shooting in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals last weekend.

Fewer tanking teams

Teams at the bottom of the standings will now be incentivized to win late in the season, as they’ll want to avoid having their lottery odds relegated. This, of course, is the core principle of all these rule changes. Tanking teams got more creative this past season, even benching high scorers for the fourth quarter of close games.

The Nuggets went 23-6 against the 10 teams that missed the Play-In Tournament. Their 12-game win streak to finish the regular season included four games against those teams.

There won’t be as many “easy” wins on the schedule going forward.

Top priority: Will Nikola Jokic sign contract extension?

All offseason talk has to start here, with arguably the most important person in the Denver sports landscape. Jokic declined a supermax extension from the Nuggets last July, with the mutual understanding that a more lucrative version of the same offer would still be on the table a year later.

The 31-year-old center has at least one more year remaining on his current supermax contract, with a player option for 2027-28. Signing an extension last summer when he first became eligible would have added three years and an estimated $207 million to the current deal. By waiting for this offseason, he’s able to tack on an additional $80 million (approximately) for a fourth year.

Speculation about Jokic’s future inevitably followed his decision to delay contract talks, as is often the case when a superstar turns down an extension. That chatter will only be amplified by an early playoff exit. But Jokic has given no indication that he wants to play anywhere other than Denver, and team sources have been confident dating back to last year that he’ll ultimately sign the extension.

“My plan is to be Nuggets forever,” he said at preseason media day last September. In a recent , he elaborated in his native language that he has found peace in Denver and covets his “organic” championship with the Nuggets, even if they never win another. All signs point to him following in the footsteps of single-franchise modern stars like Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki.

If one thing is clear, it’s that the Nuggets have a high floor as long as Jokic is on the court. They’ve won 50 or more regular-season games in four consecutive years. They sell out Ball Arena nightly. They have the longest active streak of playoff appearances in the Western Conference.

It’s the ceiling of a team built around him that’s in question now more than ever, especially as he potentially enters the post-MVP stage of his career.

Which Nuggets players are under contract in 2026-27?

The Nuggets tentatively have 10 players under contract for the 2026-27 season, with somewhere between $203.4 million and $213.8 million in salary payroll, depending on what they do with team options and non-guaranteed salary.

The NBA was reportedly projecting a $165 million salary cap as of March, with the luxury tax line estimated at $201 million, the first apron threshold at $209 million and the second apron at $222 million. Because the Nuggets have at least four roster spots to fill aside from the money already on the books, they’re currently projected as a second apron team. They’re widely expected to make moves allowing them avoid that threshold, and possibly others.

They finished the 2025-26 season with the 11th-most expensive payroll in the league: $200.7 million in cap allocations. But it’s notable that they also made a concerted effort to evade the luxury tax at the trade deadline, salary-dumping Hunter Tyson to Brooklyn and waiting out an injury to Spencer Jones before converting his two-way contract to a standard NBA deal. That left them with enough wiggle room to sign Tyus Jones with their 15th roster spot and stay below the tax. They had spent most of the season carrying only 14 players on the 15-man active roster. Both Joneses — Spencer and Tyus — were paid prorated minimum salaries.

Why is that relevant to this summer? Well, before 2025-26, the Kroenkes had paid the luxury tax three consecutive years — meaning that to finish either this season or next season with a payroll exceeding that threshold would trigger what’s known as the repeater tax. It’s basically a more severe tax penalty imposed on teams based on five-year windows, incentivizing owners not to spend excessively over the salary cap for prolonged periods. A team pays the repeater if it finishes a season in luxury tax territory after having also done so in three of the previous four seasons.

For the Nuggets to dodge it, they had to finish 2025-26 out of the tax, and they’ll have to do the same in 2026-27.

Two consecutive years out of the tax would reset their repeater clock, so to speak, allowing them to be a luxury tax team for another three consecutive years from 2027-28 through 2029-30 without paying the additional penalties.

The problem with that approach, of course, is that Jokic has enjoyed one of the most incredible primes of any career in NBA history, and he could be nearing the end of that prime this year and next. There’s no guarantee he’ll be at the peak of his powers anymore from 2028-30. The same goes for Jamal Murray, who just had a career year. He turns 30 next February.

Penny-pinching was achievable with relatively inconsequential basketball moves this year. That’s not the case next season. New contracts are going into effect for starting power forward Aaron Gordon and shooting guard Christian Braun. And that’s before addressing Peyton Watson’s potential raise. (More on that soon.) If the Kroenkes’ top priority is to dodge the repeater tax, their actions this summer will make that obvious; multiple salary-shedding moves would be required to pull it off.

And now that Denver has dramatically underperformed in the playoffs, the door is cracked open for wholesale changes anyway. The team did not exactly give ownership a firm reason to believe that paying the repeater next year would be worth it.

Here’s a look at the cap table.

Salary figures via , verified by team source | * Last year of contract is non-guaranteed or contingent upon team option | + Last year of contract is contingent on player option

Who has a contract option or a non-guaranteed salary?

Back in November, the Nuggets and backup center Jonas Valanciunas quietly agreed to restructure the third and final year of his contract, league sources told The Post. His full $10 million salary was previously non-guaranteed. Under the amended deal, Valanciunas is owed at least $2 million of his salary next season, in exchange for his 2026 guarantee date being pushed back from June 29 to July 8. This provides Denver with more flexibility to survey the free-agent market and evaluate potential trades before the deadline to release Valanciunas or guarantee his full salary. The new “league year” begins July 1.

Reserve point guard Jalen Pickett has a team option on the last year of his rookie-scale contract. He hasn’t been a consistent presence in Denver’s rotation since he was drafted with the 32nd pick in 2023, but the Nuggets should be incentivized to pick up the option and keep him around because they need cheap cap hits (like his $2.4 million) to fill out the back end of their roster.

Which Nuggets players are free agents?

Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown and Tyus Jones will be unrestricted free agents. Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones will be restricted free agents.

All three UFAs were in Denver on veteran minimum salaries. Hardaway will be the most difficult to retain after a 40.7% 3-point shooting season that earned him a finalist nod for NBA Sixth Man of the Year. “I think it’s the best contract in the league right now,” Aaron Gordon said this month. If the 33-year-old Hardaway wants one more significant payday in his playing career, the Nuggets might be out of luck. They’ll have a better chance to affordably re-sign Brown, a locker room staple who has made it no secret how much he loves Denver.

Watson’s future is one of the biggest unknowns in the league this offseason. He’s due for his second NBA contract after he and the Nuggets didn’t come to an extension agreement before the season — Denver instead prioritized Braun, who signed a five-year, $125 million deal in October.

Watson went on to have a breakout fourth year. He averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 54 games, shooting 49.1% from the floor and 41.1% from 3-point range. He did most of his scoring in January, when Jokic was injured and the Nuggets desperately needed secondary shot creators to step up. Shortly after Jokic returned, Watson suffered a right hamstring strain and never got to settle back in to his smaller bench role. With him out of the picture late in the season, the Nuggets also never got to fully test out how his improving talent with the ball could be integrated into their normal system.

It leaves many questions unanswered. How trustworthy was that one month? Was it a large enough sample size to meaningfully impact his financial value? How much cap space is Denver willing to commit to another role player while also attempting to lower its overall payroll? The Nuggets are prepared to pursue other corresponding moves in order to retain Watson, league sources have told The Post. But that doesn’t automatically mean they’ll match any number the 23-year-old is offered.

Restricted free agency is traditionally a process that favors the incumbent team, but the Nuggets’ finances will make this fascinating. After they extend a qualifying offer, Watson’s path to joining a new team will require him to sign an offer sheet, the terms of which Denver has the opportunity to match. The Nets, Bulls and Lakers are cap-space teams expected to show interest, league sources told The Post this season. Denver might have to decide where to draw a line in the sand if Watson has enthusiastic suitors. Is the number more or less than Braun’s average annual value of $25 million? Upwards of $30 million per year could get into uncomfortable territory.

Will the Nuggets trade key players?

If the Nuggets end up keeping Watson, it will almost definitely involve at least one significant sacrifice from the starting lineup. Three players are set to make between $21 million and $32 million next season: Gordon, Braun and Johnson.

Playoff basketball is informative. Failure this year was surprisingly illuminating. Braun and Johnson both struggled against Minnesota, while Gordon’s recurring soft tissue injury woes emerged again as a pivotal storyline in the first-round series.

Johnson is widely considered the most likely starter to go if Watson returns. His $23 million expiring salary is a reasonable, low-risk contract for a 6-foot-8 wing who shot 43% from 3-point range this season. He could fill a need for several other contenders that struggled with shooting, spacing and secondary ball-handling this year. (It’s worth noting that Denver could sorely miss those attributes.) In Brooklyn, he also showed his ability to assume a larger role on a tanking team. Point being: Denver could theoretically engage a variety of teams — good, bad and ugly — to find value for him. His impressive finish to the playoffs could give the front office pause, however. Even while his 3-pointer wasn’t falling for most of the Minnesota series, Johnson was the team’s third-leading scorer, capped by a 27-point Game 6.

Braun is coming off a disappointing fourth season that was characterized by a brutal ankle injury. This was the last year of his rookie-scale contract, making $4.9 million. His raise is about to go into effect. He’s under contract longer than anyone else on the roster. He had Jokic’s endorsement when the Nuggets extended him, according to a league source. If they want to trade him now, it would be bad business, in all likelihood. This is the nadir of his value. They would probably have to attach other assets to get out of his contract (and they are already short on future draft picks). And they would essentially be treating him as a sunk cost, one injury-hampered year removed from him being a candidate for NBA Most Improved Player. He can’t be ruled out as a trade candidate this offseason after his poor performance in the playoffs, but logic says the more productive path forward with him is to exercise patience and hope he can return to his 2024-25 form.

Gordon is the most uncomfortable option to consider because his value to the team is bordering on priceless. But his soft tissue durability, while no fault of his own, has become a major problem — enough that the Nuggets’ brain trust will have to at least discuss whether it makes sense to move on from the fan favorite. He has missed 77 regular-season games in the last two years. He was limited or out by the end of the playoffs in both 2025 and 2026. It’s increasingly clear that without him, Denver isn’t a championship-caliber team. The risk of keeping him as he ages into his 30s is that his body might simply be unable to withstand two consecutive months of basketball. The risk of trading him is that Denver is unlikely to ever find a more perfect fit for Jokic in the frontcourt. It’s one of the biggest roster-building catch-22s in the NBA going forward.

After the way Denver was eliminated, Murray’s name is also worth mentioning here as a wild-card  possibility. He struggled to get separation from Jaden McDaniels and establish a rhythm throughout the Minnesota series, while the Timberwolves hunted him on defense. Jokic doubled down on his confidence in the tandem after Game 6. Denver’s new front office has treated Murray as a franchise player, gauging his opinion on certain decisions (in addition to Jokic’s). But the argument for trading the 29-year-old guard now is that an opportunity has arrived to “sell high” if the Nuggets believe they can no longer win a title while fighting against the defensive deficiencies of both Jokic and Murray. Like trading Gordon, moving Murray would be a cold-hearted move. But nothing can be completely ruled out after a team with championship hopes crashed out in the first round.

It also must be noted that Denver doesn’t �󲹱�����to trade anyone to keep Watson. There are no rules requiring it. Only luxury tax bills.

How many draft picks do the Nuggets have in 2026?

The Nuggets possess two picks in the upcoming NBA draft: 26th (their own pick) and 49th (via Atlanta). Late second-round picks typically amount to nothing. The first-rounder is an important asset, however. With so many roster spots open and so little financial wiggle room, the Nuggets are likely to keep the pick and assess their roster needs; a player drafted in the 20s getting paid on the rookie salary scale will have a smaller cap hit than a player signed to the veteran minimum.

If Denver does keep the pick, it’ll be the first one used by lead executives Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer in their regime, which started last summer.

If they want to trade the pick, they’re allowed to do so on draft night. None of Denver’s future firsts are currently eligible to be traded.

It might have cost him a few reps. It was still a memorable way to announce himself to his teammates.

“That was disgusting,” Jonas Valanciunas said. “Seeing the open elbow. No tooth. That was disgusting.”

“Literally the first play,” Cam Johnson said, “was a firework.”

Jones was entering his second season with the Nuggets on a two-way contract. He had spent most of his rookie year in their version of Siberia, assigned to their G League affiliate team, the Grand Rapids Gold. He wasn’t quite a nobody. He wasn’t exactly somebody, either. The only two-way player Denver retained from 2024-25, he was antsy to prove himself worthy of more playing time at the NBA level. He had planned to be a training camp try-hard. He was playing the long game.

“We’ve got so many offensively talented guys,” he said. “It would have been much harder to get on the floor that way. So I knew this was the opening.”

Unceremoniously taking out a teammate’s tooth laid the groundwork for Jones’ season-saving heroics seven months later. At the time, late last September, he couldn’t dream of checking into an NBA playoff game because wasn’t eligible to do so. Players on two-way contracts are maxed out at 50 regular-season games in the NBA and none in the postseason. The rest of their time is reserved for the minor leagues.

But Jones was just the kind of annoying that Denver needed on its active roster, which faces a perennial deficit of defenders. By the end of February, the Nuggets had signed him to a regular NBA contract for the rest of the season. By Game 5 of their first-round playoff series Monday, he was starting for the injured Aaron Gordon, scoring 20 points and guarding the Timberwolves’ best available player.

“Some guys want opportunities,” coach David Adelman said after Denver’s 125-113 win staved off elimination. “Other guys take them and run with them. He’s done that the whole season.”

Adelman fondly remembers a preseason game in Vancouver, where Jones went scoreless in 14 minutes against the Toronto Raptors. It was less than two weeks after his messy encounter with Strawther. He guarded Brandon Ingram that day with the same audacity. “I’ll never forget that,” Adelman said.

“It was minimal minutes. But it showed that he had confidence in himself that he could guard high-level players. … He’s got self-confidence, and he’s got a coaching staff and a locker room that believe in him.”

There were other hard-nosed highlights and tough lessons sprinkled in throughout Jones’ season, bookmarks in the story of his ascent. He checked into games for sometimes as little as one possession at first, the sole purpose being to guard an opposing star on the last play of a quarter. He bumped heads with All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and stumbled away with a concussion. He pioneered a 13-point fourth-quarter comeback in San Antonio by figuring out how to play center at 6-foot-8.

He learned from subtle last-second lapses while defending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic, both of whom drained game-winning shots over him. Adelman was tough on him in those moments. He knew he could be. Jones wore his failures comfortably and publicly. He often reflected by posting on LinkedIn, the preferred social media platform of a Stanford grad who almost pursued an entrepreneurial career in the healthcare industry before signing in Denver as an undrafted free agent. Even now, he often walks to and from Ball Arena for practices and games. More time for introspection for one of the only Nuggets who doesn’t own a car.

Committed to the ugly

It all traced back to training camp, where Jones wiped up the blood and didn’t allow the tooth to wedge itself into his subconscious. It certainly didn’t meddle with his defensive dogma for the rest of Denver’s preseason practices.

“He was hacking the whole time. They weren’t calling the damn fouls,” Bruce Brown said. “He was driving me full-court.”

“I mean, look,” Jones said, laughing. “Part of being a great defender is like, yeah, you’ve gotta be aggressive. You’ve gotta show that aggressiveness. And that comes with the fouls. That comes with being called a hack. So, yeah. … I broke Julian’s tooth. Stuff like that. Literally hacking the whole time, trying to pick up full-court. Then doing it preseason, doing it a couple times in games. It’s just a natural progression. And then eventually, you’ve gotta smooth out the kinks.”

The Nuggets have needed to lean on his ruggedness. His commitment to the ugly. It offsets their elegance offensively. Even at that end of the floor — where Jones was Denver’s third-leading scorer behind Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in Game 5— he did most of his work with his unmistakable, unorthodox, zigzaggy shooting form. His hips jolt to the left, while his arms rear back to the right. He shot the 3-pointer at a 39.6% clip this season.

His final stat line, with the season on the line and a hole in the lineup: 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting overall, 4-of-5 from deep, three rebounds, three steals and three blocks. It was his second career 20-point game.

“Coming into the season (on a) two-way, the goal was to get a standard contract,” he said. “Then you have a standard contract, and the next goal was, yes, let’s try to get in the playoff rotation.”

Not even he dared to envision a starting role in the playoffs. But with Gordon sidelined by left calf tightness for the second time in three games, the Nuggets were confronted by a shortage of big wings capable of guarding Julius Randle for an entire game. Jones stepped in and did it for 37 minutes.

If Gordon remains out, which Adelman is counting on as a possibility, Jones will be asked to continue shouldering that matchup. It unexpectedly became one of the series’ premier, defining matchups on Monday. With Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards out, Randle shifts up the hierarchy. He’ll be expected to serve as their primary scorer and playmaker as they try to close out the series Thursday in Minnesota, and if necessary, in a Game 7 in Denver.

Gordon is ordinarily an ideal defender for him. But his mobility and strength were visibly limited when he tried to tough it out in Game 4. The Nuggets fell to 27-10 this season when Gordon plays. They were 27-20 without him entering Monday’s elimination game at home.

Randle scored 27 points to lead Minnesota in the loss. But his six assists were also canceled out by five turnovers, most notably a Jones steal with four minutes remaining. It extinguished the Wolves’ late comeback.

“He just competes, man,” Adelman said. “Randle’s an All-Star. Randle’s a load. And nobody in this room would want to be near Randle in their lives. And (Jones) just stands there and takes the hits. I thought he was really good outside of one time (at) not fouling him, either, where he made him take tough contested shots. A couple times, (Randle) got to his right shoulder and he laid the ball in with his left hand. But that’s why he gets paid a ton of money, because he’s a really special player. But the stuff early, he pushed him out. That’s the thing with Randle. If you concede space, just go home. I think Spence did a good job of competing for the spot.”

No appendages were lost. Jones was prepared for the bloodlust of the rivalry, the physicality required. He’s at the center of it now. All these months after starting the season at the center of a bloody training camp transaction.

“I think he came in with a clear idea of what it would take to carve out a role for himself,” Johnson said. And he knew that was gonna be with effort and intensity. … He’s done a great job of that all season, and he’s reaped the rewards.”

Braun had played poorly in this series. Most of the Nuggets had. Any opportunity to regain some swagger in a do-or-die Game 5, they happily embraced. Minnesota was handing out free dunks in the third quarter. Braun, Cam Johnson, Bruce Brown and Spencer Jones each accepted their invitations to the rim in turn. Denver cruised through its first elimination game of the NBA playoffs, a 125-113 win over the depleted Timberwolves. Game 6 is Thursday in Minneapolis.

Nikola Jokic returned to his usual puppeteering form, notching a triple-double before the fourth quarter of his 27-point, 12-rebound, 16-assist performance. Jamal Murray was inefficient but gritty on his way to 24 points. After wrestling for a loose ball and converting an and-one during one chaotic sequence, he sought out his dad in the first row of the stands for an emphatic high-five.

And Jones was the Nuggets’ unheralded hero for the evening, as young guard Julian Strawther was last year when they faced elimination at home. Aaron Gordon was sidelined by left calf tightness for the second time in three games, forcing Jones into the starting lineup. The former two-way wing tried to single-handedly corrected Denver’s 3-point shooting variance with a 4-for-5 outing from deep. He scored 20 points while also guarding Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, who became their primary scoring option with Anthony Edwards out for the series.

The Timberwolves might have almost as much of a mountain to climb as the Nuggets do if they want to advance. They arrived in Colorado with three chances to pull off a win without their starting backcourt, after Edwards hyperextended a knee and Donte DiVincenzo tore an Achilles tendon in Game 4.

They were sloppy in their first try. They committed 25 turnovers against the worst turnover-generating defense in the NBA — nine of them in the first quarter alone. Denver feasted on them in transition. With Mike Conley Jr. starting in place of Edwards, they finally had a glaring defensive weak spot on the perimeter. He had to guard someone. Cam Johnson got back into a rhythm, amassing 18 points, six boards and five assists.

Ayo Dosunmu was effective but unable to replicate his Game 4 masterpiece, totaling 18 points in 38 minutes. Randle scored efficiently but turned it over five times. Gobert finally lost his matchup to Jokic.

McDaniels picked up two fouls in the first two minutes, yanking him from the game and preventing him from ever setting a physical defensive tone as he often has in the series. Offensively, his shaky series continued with mistakes that included a clean interception to Murray, one of the Nuggets he labeled a bad defender last week.

Two more chances remain, including Game 6 at Target Center. But this was a fairly comprehensive strike one.

Until the fourth quarter. This being Nuggets-Timberwolves, the atmosphere in Ball Arena had to get a little tense, at least once, before Denver could breathe a temporary sigh of relief. Minnesota whittled a 27-point deficit all the way down to 10 with four and a half minutes remaining.

Before those intrusive thoughts about 2024 Game 7 could linger for too long, Braun knocked down a corner 3-pointer, Jones poked the ball away from Randle, and Murray flushed yet another transition dunk with 3:55 to go. Order was restored.

The Nuggets shook up their rotation with their backs to the wall. Jonas Valanciunas rejoined the action at backup center, mucking things up. Tyus Jones was an innings eater at point guard, providing 13 minutes. Strawther chipped in with a second-quarter stint.

The Nuggets have won their last three elimination games on home turf. They’re the most recent team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA.

Minnesota shook. And the Nuggets looked shaken. They were a no-show for most of Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday, never leading in a 113-96 loss to the Timberwolves. It was only the third time this season that Denver has failed to score 100 points. The other two were without Nikola Jokic.

“It’s tough. Nobody on the team was making shots, including myself,” Jamal Murray said. “… They played with a lot of adrenaline. The crowd was into it in the first quarter, and I feel like we were just playing a little too fast. And after that quarter, the score was pretty even quarter to quarter. But that first really hurt us. Couldn’t recover from that. So we’ve just gotta be better to start the game and have a calmer mindset, especially on the road.”

Starting power forward Aaron Gordon was sidelined by left calf tightness, but his presence might not have mattered. Jokic and Jamal Murray never established any sort of scoring rhythm in the rout. They combined to shoot 12 for 43, scoring 43 points between them, and it took until the second half for a third Nuggets starter to make a shot from the field.

Jokic missed his first six shots. The team missed 16 of its first 18. The Timberwolves foamed at the mouth, eager to back up Jaden McDaniels’ trash talk about Denver’s defense from three days earlier. The Nuggets didn’t appear bothered enough by it. They allowed 40 points in the paint before halftime. They had scored 39 points total at half — in and outside of the paint.

“We just had a hard time making shots tonight,” coach David Adelman said. “… Our two best players, from the field, obviously really struggled.”

Adelman turned shades of Michael Malone late in the half, seething as he called a timeout after Denver failed to get back on defense off of a made shot. He burned through three of his timeouts in a four-minute stretch of the second quarter, as the Nuggets’ defense abandoned them.

It had saved them from getting run out of the gym early — they trailed 25-11 after the opening stanza — but Minnesota’s relentless downhill driving was too much of a problem. Especially with Gordon and Peyton Watson out.

“Guys were trying to get back to their matchups as opposed to: Just match up,” Adelman said. “They’re gonna play faster in this building than they do on the road. All teams do. And it was unfortunate because I thought the group to start the second quarter really competed. … But every time we would make a run, we’d give up a runaway layup after a make or a miss. You can’t do that in a playoff game. So we’ll definitely watch the film. That has to get better.”

Ayo Dosunmu, one of the most impactful trade deadline acquisitions in the NBA this year, led the Wolves with 25 points and nine assists off the bench. He exposed Denver’s transition defense, forced the Nuggets to collapse with his straight-line speed and finished a flawless 10-for-12 inside the arc. McDaniels exposed the Nuggets on the glass, crashing for four offensive rebounds en route to a 20-point double-double. Rudy Gobert continued to be the most valuable player of the series, keeping Jokic uncomfortable at all times.

He and McDaniels — the two best defenders on either team in this series — have outplayed Denver’s two best offensive players through three contests. That’s been enough for Minnesota to seize a 2-1 lead after trailing by 19 points early in Game 2.

And it was enough on Thursday to compensate for a choppy game from Anthony Edwards, who developed a limp in the fourth quarter after spending most of his evening in foul trouble. He finished with 17 points, five boards and three assists.

The Wolves left the door open for a second-half comeback when Edwards and Julius Randle were both off the court. But Denver failed to cut substantially into a 27-point deficit. It was still 20 after the third quarter. Going to a zone defense slowed Minnesota down further in the fourth, but the Nuggets weren’t generating the shots they’re used to getting automatically.

Christian Braun finished the game with two points and no field goals. Cam Johnson scored six on as many shots.

“I think to get those guys going, they have to screen better,” Adelman said. “If you can free up your best players, that’s gonna bring rotations. That’s gonna bring a low man.”

Julian Strawther entered the rotation as Adelman searched for offensive punch, but he missed five of his six attempts from the field.

Zeke Nnaji slid in as a backup center and provided good energy. The Nuggets won his 16 minutes by two. Nobody else finished in the black. Spencer Jones replaced Gordon in the starting lineup and limited Randle, though he added very little offensively. The Nuggets are unsure what Gordon’s status will be for Game 4, which tips off Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MT at Target Center.

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.

They are officially set to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs, a fate sealed by their 128-118 win over the Spurs on Sunday night. But it was how Denver (54-28) got to that endpoint that provided compelling theater throughout the last weekend of the regular season.

Riding a 10-game win streak Friday with a chance to close in on or clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, they surprised the NBA world by resting their entire starting lineup in what could’ve been a walkover against Oklahoma City’s reserves. Prioritizing health signaled a willingness to fall to the No. 4 seed and face Houston instead of Minnesota. It also meant Denver was content to land on the same side of the bracket as first-place OKC. The league was caught off-guard.

And so the projected final standings shifted to reflect the Nuggets’ decision to travel to San Antonio without four of those starters. Surely, they would lose Sunday and finish as the No. 4 seed.

People almost forgot about the fifth starter. Jokic was on that plane to Texas, bound for a 15-minute appearance to cement his eligibility for MVP and All-NBA voting. He was not to be denied. The superstar center and a ragtag supporting cast surged to a 23-point first-half lead on San Antonio. It was decided, then: Denver would finish third place after all, no matter how circuitously.

Naturally, another plot twist was in store. Nuggets coach David Adelman was transparent before opening tip: Jokic would play the first half to meet his games-played minimum (65), then Denver would evaluate its options. Translation: Jokic wasn’t going to play the second half. So it was up to Denver’s bench to protect the lead against the second-place Spurs, who were playing most of their normal rotation despite it being a meaningless game at the surface level.

Peel back the layers, and their motivations were obvious. They didn’t want Denver on their side of the playoff bracket. They wanted Jokic in the No. 4 slot to help their own path.

De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper played, even if Victor Wembanyama did not. They played past halftime, after Jokic’s night was over. The Spurs were on a mission. They sliced their deficit to six early in the fourth quarter. Maybe the Nuggets were in fact destined for the No. 4 seed.

But they had every answer for San Antonio. Jonas Valanciunas and David Roddy were physical forces. Julian Strawther and Bruce Brown and Curtis Jones got buckets. Brown was finishing out an Iron Man season with pride while the rest of Denver’s usual rotation was absent. He was the team’s only player to appear in all 82 games.

The Nuggets landed the last punch. They pushed the lead back to 16 late in the fourth, then held off a barrage of San Antonio 3s that rimmed out after it was cut back to single digits.

Are you not entertained?

Strawther led the team with 25 points. Valanciunas went for a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double.

The schedule for Denver’s first-round series has not yet been announced, but it will begin at Ball Arena.

The Nuggets technically needed a win or a Lakers loss to Utah on Sunday night to end up in the No. 3 seed. But the result between Los Angeles and Utah was a foregone conclusion, with the Jazz desperate to maximize its chances of keeping a top-eight protected lottery pick in the upcoming draft. (If the pick is ninth or later, it goes to Oklahoma City.) The Lakers were up by 30 by the fourth.

So if the Nuggets had lost, they would have finished in fourth place with Houston as a first-round opponent.

“Every year, you kind of look back at the PR people, ask where people are in their games,” Adelman said. “… Absolutely, we’ll try to figure out what’s going on.”

Jokic finished his night with 23 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes. He finished his 2025-26 campaign with averages of 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game. He has averaged a triple-double in two consecutive seasons.

The Nuggets will go into the playoffs on a 12-game win streak, the longest of Jokic’s career. Their final win total of 54 eclipses that of the 2022-23 team that won the NBA championship.

In this corner: the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder, resting nine rotation players including the reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Defensive Player of the Year candidate Chet Holmgren and 2025 All-NBA wing Jalen Williams. Their absences came as no surprise. With two games left, the Thunder had already clinched the best record in the league and home-court advantage in any playoff series. There was nothing left to play for — all risk, no reward. In fact, OKC was incentivized to lose to the Nuggets and shepherd them to the opposite side of the playoff bracket as a No. 3 seed. That way, the defending champs would only have to face one of the Nuggets or Spurs in a hypothetical path to the NBA Finals.

In the other corner: third-place Denver, minus the entire starting lineup. Offered a symbolic handshake agreement by OKC avoid each other until the Western Conference Finals, the Nuggets threw a late-breaking curveball instead. Most of their normal rotation would also be sitting out, coach David Adelman announced 90 minutes before tip.

The official injury report designations: Nikola Jokic out for right wrist injury management. Jamal Murray out for right shoulder impingement. Aaron Gordon out for right hamstring injury management. Cam Johnson out for right ankle injury management. Christian Braun out for left ankle injury management and a right hip flexor strain.

“What’s on the injury report is what they’re out with,” Adelman said. “They’re dealing with a lot more than that physically, not to mention some of the soft tissue stuff. Scary kinds of injuries. … ‘Hey, we’re the three-seed, but we don’t have three starters’ — it doesn’t sound like a great solution.”

Denver’s junior-varsity roster pulled away late for a 127-107 victory nonetheless, clinching home-court advantage in the first round. Oklahoma City escaped with the outcome it wanted. But the Nuggets’ unexpected lineup decision will loom into Sunday evening, when they close out the regular season at San Antonio.

Their situation is simple now.

The Nuggets will be the No. 3 seed and face Minnesota if they beat San Antonio or if the Lakers lose to Utah in a coinciding game. San Antonio would be Denver’s likely second-round opponent.

The Nuggets will be the No. 4 seed and face Houston if they lose to San Antonio and the Lakers beat Utah. Oklahoma City would be Denver’s likely second-round opponent.

Utah will be trying to lose Sunday for draft lottery purposes. The Lakers will be heavily favored, even without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

That leaves Denver at San Antonio as the major swing game of the night for seeding.

So what exactly do the Nuggets want here? Their decision to rest all five starters Friday signaled a desire to avoid Minnesota, fall to fourth place and set up an earlier OKC series, leaving people around the NBA puzzled. But the situation is at least nuanced enough that it depends who you ask. Several team sources told The Denver Post they would personally prefer to compete for the No. 3 seed. Others were torn on which potential path would be more advantageous between Minnesota-San Antonio and Houston-Oklahoma City. Ultimately, the lineup conversation Friday went upstairs beyond the coaching staff, according to two of those sources.

“The matchups with those teams, I’ll be honest, there’s so much unknown. I think people need to calm down with ‘Let’s play the Lakers,'” Nuggets head coach David Adelman said, before Los Angeles was mathematically ruled out as a possible first-round opponent late Friday night. “If Luka comes back and feels good, do you want to play Luka Doncic? Like, I think you’re messing with the game when you think that.

“Us and Minnesota, it’s been a crazy back-and-forth over the years. They swept us last year, but then we beat them three out of four this year. We always know it’s competitive with them. They’ve given us issues. We’ve given them issues. And then obviously Houston, I mean, they’re playing so well right now. … So there’s no good opponent in my opinion. I think you just have to play it out with decisions that are best for your team, and we feel like tonight, this is the best decision.”

The Nuggets have had internal conversations about the matchup scenarios, of course. That����ap normal for a contender in a situation like this.

Those conversations, if you’re to believe the team’s framing, revealed a lot of gray area. And in fairness to that framing, any two Nuggets fans sitting in a bar could have a reasonable pros-and-cons debate about this topic.

Is Houston a more palatable matchup than a familiar rival like Minnesota in the first round? Maybe, but Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels have also been dealing with injuries recently. Vibes have been off with the Wolves.

If Oklahoma City is considered a tougher opponent than the inexperienced Spurs, wouldn’t it be prudent to land on San Antonio’s side of the bracket and stay away from OKC as long as possible? Maybe, but on the other hand, playing the Thunder sooner — with fewer miles on Aaron Gordon’s hamstring in particular — theoretically gives you a better chance of starting and finishing that series with a healthy team.

Or does it even matter when you play OKC and when you play San Antonio, if you’re expecting you’ll have to face both eventually anyway? Does that mean decisions should be made with only the first-round opponent in mind? Or if you’re a “championship or bust” team, as Julian Strawther put it Friday, shouldn’t you be confident you’ll win the first-round series regardless of the opponent and therefore make these decisions based on later rounds?

There isn’t necessarily a right answer to any of these questions.

Only one variable was completely unambiguous: Nothing else matters if the roster isn’t healthy. So injury avoidance was treated as a higher priority than seeding, as multiple team sources rationalized to The Post.

Still, Denver’s willingness to risk losing Friday’s game on paper — forget for a moment that the players refused to punt it in actuality — suggested at least some degree of organizational wariness about the Timberwolves, even if nobody wanted to admit it. Denver has already faced them twice in the last three postseasons. Minnesota has gone farther in the playoffs than Denver in back-to-back years.

Assuming the Nuggets rest most of their starters again on Sunday, that outside perception will only be amplified.

Adding to the intrigue, San Antonio is now incentivized to beat the Nuggets for the same reason Oklahoma City was incentivized to lose to them. If Denver falls to fourth place, the Spurs will ensure that they only have to play one of Denver or OKC in the playoffs. Is that a worthwhile reason for them to play their starters when they’re already locked in as the No. 2 seed? Even if Victor Wembanyama rests, which seems likely, San Antonio can roll out a  competitive lineup spearheaded by one of the best backcourts in the league.

Then there’s Jokic, who still hasn’t met the 65-game minimum to qualify for awards such as MVP and All-NBA. He has to play at least 15 minutes Sunday if he wants to appear on ballots. He’s expected to play, one team source said, but the final decision on his status will include input from both him and team ownership.

“Obviously, the success in the playoffs matters more than anything else. But this rule stares at us right now,” Adelman said. “So we’ve gotta make a proper decision, and we need to go in there with a real plan. … Either it is those minutes, or we say let’s just move on.”

Of course, if Jokic does play even 15 minutes, the Nuggets will be substantially increasing their chances of leaving San Antonio with a win. And that might not be what everyone in the building wants.