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.

The Timberwolves lobbed verbal molotov cocktails at the Nuggets. Jaden McDaniels called them “horrible” defenders. Coach Chris Finch labeled their stars “floppers.”

Through the first two games, there was only one conclusion to draw: the Timberwolves view the Nuggets as soft. An NBA version of Charmin.

Thursday offered a chance for the Nuggets’ to punch back, find redemption.

Instead, the Timberwolves wiped their you know what with the Nuggets, taking control of a series with an 113-96 blowout at Target Center.

Once again, the Nuggets failed to match the Timberwolves’ intensity. Once again, they were out of sync offensively. Once again, they could not get stops, falling behind by 23 points in the first half.

With a rebuilt bench, this season started with such hope. Now, the Nuggets seem like a promise broken.

They trail 2-1 in the series, but they don’t look good enough, especially with Aaron Gordon (calf) hurt again, to regain control. The embarrassment of a first-round exit looms as an uncomfortable possibility.

The Nuggets have lost plenty of playoff games the past two springs, but few have stung like this. McDaniels punked them. Flicked spitwads off the back of their heads. The Nuggets refused to engage, declining to respond on the off day.

This was a mistake. They had an opportunity to stick up for themselves, suggesting that McDaniels is a Gucci-knockoff version of Jayden Daniels, and that Finch is acting desperate with his mind games.

Instead, they took the high road. Right off a cliff.

For all those who insisted the players were preserving their energy for the court, the Nuggets responded with one of the worst playoff quarters in franchise history. They scored 11 points in the opening period, shooting 3-for-21, while missing 16 of their first 18 attempts.

An anomaly? Hardly. Denver finished 28 of 82 from the field, the 34% mark their lowest of the season.

“When we got sped up by pressure, that led to some unorganized possessions. Everybody struggled from the field,” coach David Adelman told reporters in Minnesota. “That is not who we have been throughout the season.”

Nikola Jokic went 1-for-7 in the first quarter, remaining knee-deep in a 3-point shooting slump since the All-Star break (29.7% compared to 42 % in the season’s first half).

“This guy has played a million playoff games. There are nights that are poor,” Adelman said. “He will bounce back.”

Jamal Murray had no rhythm, forced to create off the dribble through sticky defenders, most notably McDaniels. It was left for Zeke Nnaji — yes, you read that correctly — to provide a brief spark.

There is struggling. And there is dissolving.

The Timberwolves ballooned their lead to 52-30 with 4:21 remaining in the half with a bucket by — who else? — McDaniels. He nearly outscored Jokic and Murray over the first 24 minutes, dropping 13 points.

“I talked with him a little bit (before the game),” Finch said. “Now you gotta back it up.”

His play cashed the check his mouth wrote. McDaniels delivered 20 points, converting 9 of 13 shots, and added 10 rebounds.

Given a chance to deliver a hard foul on him early in the game, the Nuggets chose the velvet glove. McDaniels did what he wanted without consequence, saying afterward that he was merely playing team ball in pursuit of a win.

His teammates knew better.

“He is our brother,” said Timberwolves guard Ayo Dosunmu in an on-court TV interview. “We had his back.”

This is what they call getting your nose rubbed in it on the playground. Just when it looked like things could not get worse, Bones Hyland, who quit on the Nuggets before getting traded three years ago, put Spencer Jones in a blender and sank a 3-pointer from St. Paul.

That made it 80-56 late in the third.

The first three games have brought a revelation. It is clear the Timberwolves were bored by the regular season. They have lost in the Western Conference Finals the past two years, and apparently needed the higher stakes to become engaged.

In the Nuggets, they found a willing victim, a team that foolishly tries to convince itself that it can flip the switch defensively in the playoffs. Miss me with the rating over the first two games in this series.

Trust your eyes. The Nuggets give up too many blow-bys, too many uncontested shots, and the next time a Denver player takes a charge, it will be from a credit card.

The fourth quarter provided a snapshot of what separates these two teams. Down 20, Murray brought the ball over halfcourt, looking for space. McDaniels guarded him tighter than SaranWrap for 15 seconds, forcing an off-balance 3-pointer.

Typically, Jokic is the default answer when the fire alarm blares. Post him up, and let him go to work. He has toasted Rudy Gobert for years. Perhaps peeved by the lack of respect for his defense, Gobert has flipped the script.

In the first half, Jokic was minus-22 when the gangly center was on the court, continuing an alarming trend in the series.

Jokic has been unable to deliver easy buckets near the rim or get Gobert into foul trouble. The Timberwolves willingly left Jokic open behind the arc. And Jokic could not make it hurt. He is 5 for 24 on 3s in the series.

Jokic finished with 27 points on 26 shots. Murray went 5-for-17, and for the second time in the series, failed to make a 3.

For those who want to provide cover for the Nuggets because of Gordon’s late scratch, just understand it comes off as an excuse. Even with Gordon, the Nuggets lost Game 2 because the Timberwolves did everything they couldn’t — like win in the paint and on the boards.

The Nuggets find themselves in this hole because the Timberwolves have made life miserable for Jokic and Murray. They are winning in the margins. They are physical, intentional.

Go ahead, tell yourself the Nuggets are better.

But one thing is clear through three games. They are definitely not tougher.

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?

�վ���������ɴDZ������:��115.6 offensive rating (13th), 112.5 defensive rating (8th), 3.1 net (10th).

���ܲ�����ٲ�:��121.2 offensive rating (1st), 116.0 defensive rating (21st), 5.2 net (7th).

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. 

They’ve been playing in a different NBA. Amid rising average point differentials and a record number of 30-point routs — symptoms of the tanking epidemic — the Nuggets have been arguably the most entertaining team to watch any given night.

Maybe it’s their commitment to beautiful offense paired with their neglect of defense during the regular-season grind, resulting in a tendency to trade buckets. Maybe it’s their propensity for playing up or down to their opponent’s level — human nature for a veteran team that has tasted so much playoff success. (Denver is soon to begin its 17th playoff series in an eight-year stretch.)

Whatever the case, the Nuggets have been involved in several “game of the year” candidates. They’ve played 45 games decided by single digits, 42 involving clutch time, 20 decided by one score and nine that went to overtime.

As they wrap up Sunday in San Antonio, it feels only right to put a bow on this rollercoaster of a regular season by ranking Denver’s craziest games. What started as a top-10 list ended up expanding to 15. These were the highlights and lowlights of 2025-26.

15. Nuggets 134, Hawks 133, Dec. 5, Atlanta

Nikola Jokic recently chose “inconsistent” as the word to describe his season. This wacky night in Atlanta captured all the dramatic fluctuations, making it the perfect place to begin this countdown. Jokic missed 11 of his 13 shots in the first half. He played like a “sissy,” he said afterward. He decided at halftime that “if we were going to lose, at least I’m gonna give a fight.” He proceeded to make 11 of 13 shots in the second half, scoring 30 of his 40 points to lead Denver’s third-largest comeback win in franchise history (down 23). The weirdest part: The Nuggets also went on a 20-0 run without him on the court. In the last six years dating back to Jokic’s first MVP season, they’re 9-79 when they lose his minutes by more than five points (playoffs included). This was the worst plus-minus game of his entire prime (minus-15) that they’ve have won.

14. Mavericks 131, Nuggets 130, Dec. 23, Dallas

In hindsight, David Adelman has cited the final sequence of this game as one of his favorite moments of the season. Playing a two-man game with Jamal Murray, Jokic caught a pass at the free-throw line and stepped through the paint. As he left his feet, it appeared he was about to attempt a game-winning floater. Instead, he clocked the five — yes, all five — defenders collapsing to him in the lane and whipped a pass to Peyton Watson in the weak-side corner. It was a wide-open 3-point attempt at the buzzer. Watson missed it. Adelman adamantly defended Jokic’s split-second decision, which was scrutinized even by the first-year coach’s friends. Less than a month later, Watson earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors. His breakout season as a scorer has been pivotal for Denver. Before any of that, he had a vote of trust from his team’s best player.

13. Nuggets 102, Bucks 100, Jan. 23, Milwaukee

The Nuggets stumbled out of Milwaukee with an unlikely win that probably contributed to escalating tensions between Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks before the trade deadline. Aaron Gordon was Denver’s only starter available that night, and he reinjured his hamstring before halftime, leaving the team without seven rotation players as it tried to protect a 23-point lead in the fourth quarter. Antetokounmpo led his hapless team on a 34-13 run, only to limp off with a calf strain with 34 seconds left. How did the Nuggets hold on? “Time ran out,” Adelman said bluntly.

12. Pistons 109, Nuggets 107, Jan. 27, Denver

You will probably never see a basketball game end like this again: The Pistons foul Murray in the act of shooting �ٷɾ�������on desperate game-tying 3-point attempts in the last 3.5 seconds, offering Denver a lifeline. And both times, an 89% foul shooter fails to capitalize, missing one of his three free throws. Murray’s teammates were quick to forgive him after an outstanding month in which he led Denver without Jokic in the lineup. He was hard on himself. “If I could just make a free throw, maybe hit rim in the first half,” he said, “it would be lovely.”

11. Nuggets 128, Rockets 125 (OT), Dec. 15, Denver

Perhaps the most consequential officiating moment of Denver’s season occurred with 2.3 seconds left in regulation, when the Nuggets trailed by one and needed to score on a last-ditch sideline inbound play. Tim Hardaway Jr. fell before the ball was passed in, earning a whistle for a dead-ball foul. Replay review determined that he had just barely tripped over the shin of Rockets’ wing Amen Thompson, a soft letter-of-the-law foul that resulted in an automatic free throw. “Most poorly officiated game I’ve seen in a long time,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said afterward. “Two (of the refs) have no business being out there, and the crew chief (Zach Zarba) was acting starstruck.” Alperen Sengun missed a game-tying 3-pointer late in overtime, and Denver held on despite Jokic fouling out with 90 seconds left. If Hardaway hadn’t sold the call, the playoff seeding picture from third to fifth could look different.

10. Nuggets 137, Trail Blazers 132 (OT), April 6, Denver

The Nuggets provided the highlight of their recent 11-game win streak with a rousing 16-point comeback in the last nine minutes of regulation to beat the Blazers, who had one of the luckiest shooting performances in recent NBA history. Coming into Denver, they ranked 29th in the league in 3-point percentage with an 80-game sample as evidence of their inefficiency. Denver’s game plan was to close out short and be the second to leave the ground. Portland went 25 for 52 from deep. It went to waste.

9. Nuggets 106, Raptors 103, Dec. 31, Toronto

Behold, a war of attrition for the ages. This game began as Denver’s first without Jokic, who had hyperextended his knee two nights earlier. By the end, the Nuggets needed a miracle. Backup center Jonas Valanciunas joined Jokic in the infirmary after suffering an injury in the third quarter. It left Denver without a traditional five-man for multiple weeks. DaRon Holmes II was suddenly playing his first career minutes outside of garbage time. In a tight road game. Against a playoff team. Denver and Toronto combined to shoot a whopping 6 for 33 in the last eight and a half minutes. It ended in the most fitting and most ironic way possible: Bruce Brown missed two consecutive free throws with 2.7 seconds left when he only needed one to clinch the game, and the Raptors went the length of the floor off the rebound to hit an incredible buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Just as it seemed the game was going to stretch into 2026, it turned out the ball was still on Brandon Ingram’s fingertips when the clock struck midnight. The one shot that went in for Toronto didn’t count, and Denver had pulled off a tone-setting win for life without Jokic.

8. Knicks 134, Nuggets 127 (2OT), Feb. 4, New York

This one will be remembered for Jokic playing 44 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back, less than a week after returning from his injury. He had already blown past his minutes restriction by the end of regulation at Madison Square Garden. By then, Adelman was in too deep. “There was an ‘I don’t care’ factor once it got to overtime,” he said after the loss. Christian Braun drew a foul at the buzzer of OT and buried two clutch free throws to force a second, but all that did in the end was add to Jokic’s exorbitant playing time. “That was a really fun game,” Jamal Murray said. So fun that he didn’t even notice when Peyton Watson limped off with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for six weeks.

7. Thunder 127, Nuggets 121 (OT), Feb. 27, Oklahoma City

Joker v. Dort. The flagrant foul that ignited a rivalry and the “necessary reaction” . Jokic’s death stare was an instant classic. The game was pretty spectacular, too. But NBA fans years from now might not even remember it went to overtime.

6. Warriors 137, Nuggets 131 (OT), Oct. 23, San Francisco

At its core, this was a legendary duel between Steph Curry and … Aaron Gordon? Fun fact: AG is the only player in Nuggets history to ever average 50 points per game at any point in a season. He broke Alex English’s franchise scoring record in a season opener (47), going 10 for 11 from 3-point range in one of the most mesmerizing heat checks you’ll ever see by a role player. But opening night was the worst possible time to visit Golden State, before injuries took their toll on a geriatric Warriors team. Curry scored their last 13 points of regulation, punctuated by a ridiculous game-tying 35-footer. A game like this was appropriate foreshadowing for the type of season that was in store. It’s stupid that it’s this low on the list.

5. Nuggets 136, Spurs 134 (OT), April 4, Denver

An 11-point Nuggets comeback in the fourth quarter, a pair of magical Jokic shots in the last minute of overtime and, in general, the most epic battle yet between Jokic and Victor Wembanyama. This was hooping of the highest order, quite possibly the best game of the NBA season if not the craziest.

4. Thunder 129, Nuggets 126, March 9, Oklahoma City

It was basketball serendipity that Denver and OKC had a rematch slated 10 days after the incident between Jokic and Dort. Naturally, that rematch became perhaps the most anticipated game of Denver’s season, aided by the bad blood that continued to linger in public comments made by the Nuggets. Dort eventually apologized, and the whole saga finally simmered. But the game still lived up to the hype. Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined to score 15 points in the last 73 seconds of this MVP referendum, which ended with a Denver miracle wiped out. Gilgeous-Alexander seemingly sealed the win for OKC when he buried a 3-pointer to go up four with 12 seconds left. But the Nuggets answered with a brilliant inbound play design to get Jokic a quick shot. Jaylin Williams plowed through a screening Murray as Jokic drained a triple, enabling the Nuggets to tie it with a fortuitous 4-point play. Then SGA got the last word.

3. Lakers 127, Nuggets 125 (OT), March 14, Los Angeles

Denver’s misfortune in clutch time reached a nadir in Los Angeles, where Austin Reaves rebounded his own intentionally missed free throw to force overtime. It was the wildest single play of this Nuggets season, and they were on the wrong end of it. They were also helpless to prevent Luka Doncic from hitting a game-winner in the last second of OT. Denver had a foul to give on the play, but Spencer Jones didn’t use it. His emergence has been a breath of fresh air for the Nuggets this season. This was a tough learning moment for the young wing. Forgotten in all the chaos of the Reaves play: Jokic threw one of his best passes of the year to find Hardaway for what should have been the game-winning shot in regulation.

2. Nuggets 142, Timberwolves 138 (OT), Dec. 25, Denver

Christmas classic. Just an absolutely bonkers rivalry game. The Nuggets led 106-91 with five minutes to go and 113-107 with 35 seconds. They trailed 124-115 with three minutes left in overtime. There was Anthony Edwards brashly asking Watson if the Nuggets planned to foul up three at the end of regulation, before draining an incredible shot to force overtime. Then there was Jokic scoring an NBA record 18 points in the extra period to fuel Denver’s comeback. He finished the game with 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists, matching the second-highest scoring game of his career. “They’re gonna show this game (on TV) 20 years from now,” Adelman said, “and I’ll crack open a beer and watch it.” How about another four to seven of those games later this month? Nuggets fans might prefer a cigarette.

1. Nuggets 125, 76ers 124 (OT), Jan. 5, Philadelphia

Being in the arena for this felt like watching a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament pour its heart out to compete with a No. 2 seed. Every minute the game stays close, the more you’re convinced the upset might actually be possible. Denver was missing seven rotation players, all five starters, both centers. It was the second game of a back-to-back near the end of the longest road trip of the season. It was Jalen Pickett, Zeke Nnaji and Hunter Tyson vs. Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. It was 98-89 Sixers early in the fourth quarter. In overtime, it was Philly ball with a one-point lead and a six-second clock differential. The Nuggets shocked the NBA world with their defense, with a Bruce Brown fast break and with a tip from the supercomputer mind of Jokic, a bystander on the bench. The team went on to finish 10-6 in a month without Jokic. No other regular-season moment could replicate the emotions of this win.

Starting forwards Aaron Gordon (left calf) and Cam Johnson (back) practiced on Tuesday before the team flew to Utah, and coach David Adelman was hopeful both will be able to play Wednesday. Spencer Jones (right hamstring) and Zeke Nnaji (hip) did not practice, but they’re considered day-to-day.

“AG looked good today,” Adelman said. “His comfort level seemed like it was in a good place with the calf. … We didn’t go very hard today obviously, but yeah, it was good to see him out there.”

Any sign of discomfort experienced by Gordon in either of his legs is going to raise an automatic alarm with the team for the rest of the regular season. When he woke up Sunday feeling tightness in his calf, Denver decided not to test its luck, giving him the night off in a 116-93 win over the Warriors. It was the 75th game he’s missed over the last two seasons.

Johnson’s back spasms that sidelined him during the second half of that game aren’t a long-term concern, but they have “popped up on me,” as he described it, twice in the last month now. He briefly left a game in Oklahoma City for the same reason but was eventually able to return.

“It’ll ease up. In OKC, it eased up enough for me to go back. (Sunday), it didn’t,” Johnson said Tuesday. “By the time I felt like I needed to be back, the guys were taking care of business and were on a run. So it gave me a lot of peace of mind that we had that one covered. … Kind of just goes away over the next day or so. Just need a little bit of compression.”

Adelman has said his goal in the final stretch of the regular season is to nail down a rotation he’ll feel comfortable playing in the playoffs, but the Nuggets (48-28) have still played only two games with everyone available. Gordon, Johnson and Jones have all been part of that rotation recently, while Nnaji entered as an impromptu backup off the end of the bench Sunday when Jones had hamstring tightness. Adelman has been using Jones, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown and Peyton Watson as his everyday bench group, with occasional minutes sprinkled in for Julian Strawther.

As the Nuggets seek their seventh consecutive win Wednesday, Watson is hoping to increase his playing time for the first time since he returned from a hamstring injury. The team has tried to keep him as close as possible to 20 so far, but Watson’s focus is on improving his conditioning before the playoffs. For a 21-game stretch before his injury, he was averaging 36.2 minutes per night.

“It’s been tough. It’s been frustrating with the minutes restriction. But it is what it is what it is, and it probably is best for my health,” he said. “I think we’re looking to ramp me up in the next game, maybe knock my minutes up some. So I’m looking forward to that.”

Watson’s first four games back have been up and down. He combined for an efficient 35 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and no turnovers in the first two. Then he committed six turnovers in the next two, an apparent stepback combined with a 5-for-16 shooting clip. The Nuggets will need him most at the defensive end in the playoffs, though his secondary shot creation has been an asset throughout the year when starters have been injured.

“This is the longest I’ve ever been out, so I thought once I got over the hump of being back that I was gonna stop having problems with my body,” he said. “The first game I came back, I felt amazing. The second game I came back, I felt amazing. But the third and fourth game, I’m like, ah, I kind of feel like how I did some of those days during the rehab process. So I think just, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. But I didn’t realize how I was still working and grinding and rehabbing to get back to where I want to be ultimately.”

That familiar dilemma emerged again in especially bizarre fashion Sunday. Denver had a fully available depth chart in the morning. By the end of a 116-93 win that night, four of the team’s top five forward options had been ruled out with various injuries. The fifth was playing under a minutes restriction.

“There was a timeout where I just looked back at my day,” coach David Adelman said. “I woke up this morning thinking Aaron Gordon was going to start.”

Instead, Gordon was the first bowling pin to fall. He woke up with tightness in his left calf. The Nuggets have been determined to minimize injury risk with to his calves and hamstrings before the playoffs. He was a precautionary scratch, replaced by Peyton Watson in the starting lineup.

Watson has been limited to around 20 minutes since returning from a right hamstring strain, and Adelman didn’t want to push him beyond that number against the Warriors. Then Watson picked up four fouls before halftime, getting himself in trouble.

Spencer Jones left the game after the first quarter with right hamstring tightness of his own, forcing Adelman to improvise. The first-year Nuggets coach had been using Jones as a backup center recently. Still wanting to prioritize defensive versatility in the second unit, he went to Zeke Nnaji at the five during Nikola Jokic’s rest stint.

Starting small forward Cam Johnson went to the locker room early in the third quarter grabbing the right side of his torso and wincing. He was categorized as questionable with back spasms. Nnaji suddenly had to slot in at power forward next to Jokic, with Watson sitting at 16 minutes. Then Nnaji took an elbow to the face from Kristaps Porzingis and landed awkwardly. He joined Johnson and Jones in the locker room, out with left hip impingement. He left the arena on crutches.

In a matter of hours, the Nuggets had gone from five forwards to half of one.

“It’s just been so funny this year has been like that,” Adelman said. “It’s never a guard and a forward, or a guard and a center. It’s like, it’s just the whole (position) group goes out.”

The good news this time: Johnson could have tried to return to the game, but Denver opened up a comfortable enough lead that it wasn’t necessary for him to push himself in the fourth quarter. The severity of all three injuries was unclear after the game.

“Players after those things always tell you they’re gonna be fine. But they’ll get a better look at them tomorrow,” Adelman said. “I didn’t get any information (on) if there’s any MRIs or X-Rays or anything.”

In the meantime, Adelman was left with almost no choice but to roll with Jonas Valanciunas and four guards to start the fourth quarter. Valanciunas saw his first action since March 18 after being out of the rotation for five consecutive games. Deploying some zone defense, Denver scraped by for five minutes, outscoring the Warriors by two before subbing Jokic and Watson back in together. The closest Golden State got during the final frame was within nine.

Before Nnaji went down, he exchanged his headband for a hard hat. The 25-year-old came to the defense of Jamal Murray after an exchange of bumps early in the second quarter, sparking a minor altercation. Nnaji grabbed De’Anthony Melton’s jersey in the fracas. Gary Payton II ripped Nnaji’s headband off as the confrontation was winding down. All three players picked up technical fouls. That meant a free throw for Denver; Nnaji was rewarded for playing the enforcer.

“Zeke has been so good this year in a role that could be very frustrating. He has been just a pro all year, the way he’s worked,” Adelman said. “You communicate with people daily when you have this job, and you’re making decisions about their life and their career. You can tell when someone means what they’re saying and when they don’t. Zeke has been nothing but honest all year about his approach. … He was very impactful. He was very good defensively. I was glad he stood up for his teammates. And it’s one of those things, you just feel bad for him. He finally gets a chance to play, and then he gets hurt.”

Three of the No. 1 seeds in the 2026 NCAA Tournament were schools attended by a current Nuggets player. March Madness had arrived with plenty of championship ambition inside Ball Arena.

“I think they’ll win,” Aaron Gordon said when asked about his former team, Arizona, which entered the tournament with a 32-2 record. “They’ve got really good guards. Got some good wings. Got some rebounding. They’ve lost  already, you know what I mean? So they’re not going into the first round of the tournament with the undefeated pressure. So they’ve got a good chance of winning.”

“AG doesn’t even watch Arizona,” Nuggets guard Christian Braun retorted. “Go ask AG to name three players on the team.”

Braun, as it happened, was the primary source of that trash talk. A proud and occasionally obnoxious Kansas alum, he’s one of the most avid college basketball followers on Denver’s roster. On Monday, he was already looking ahead to a potential second-round matchup between Kansas and St. John’s, claiming that “we have the best coach in the world” in Bill Self, “so I don’t really doubt us.”

When Bruce Brown was asked for his thoughts on Miami’s first-round draw against Missouri the next night, Braun interrupted with his: “They’ve got the weakest team in the NCAA,” he said, despite his mother having played at Mizzou. “You should beat Missouri.”

“I don’t know anything about Mizzou,” Brown murmured to his teammate. “I don’t watch —”

“Nobody does,” a deadpan Braun fired back. “Nobody watches them.”

(It bears mentioning that by this point, his insults seemed to be directed at the inquiring #MizzouMade Nuggets beat writer.)

Not everyone in the NBA keeps track of their college team quite as fervently as Braun — Jamal Murray has been known to lose track of who’s left by the Final Four — but March Madness does have a tendency to capture the attention of the basketball world, even for those who are generally locked in on just the pros.

The Nuggets have a particularly robust list of alma maters on the current team. They recently added another blueblood to that list when they signed Final Four hero Tyus Jones off the buyout market. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga and Michigan are among the schools now represented on Denver’s roster.

In celebration of this year’s tournament, The Denver Post reassembled that roster into a new hierarchy based only on the success of each player’s college hoops career — an All-NCAA Nuggets starting lineup and second unit, if you will. (Sorry, Nikola Jokic. Looks like you’re the first roster cut.)

There was no perfect way to make some of these decisions, especially given Denver’s surplus of prolific college guards and shortage of bigs. It becomes kind of difficult to sort out a frontcourt when the real-life Nuggets’ top two centers spent their developmental years playing for European clubs.

But we tried anyway. Ultimately, the final decisions skewed in favor of players who:

A) contributed to successful NCAA Tournament teams.

B) enjoyed longer, more established college careers.

Here goes nothing.

Starters

�ʳ�:��Tyus Jones, Duke (2014-15)

����:��Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan (2010-13)

����:��Christian Braun, Kansas (2019-22)

�ʹ�:��Cam Johnson, Pittsburgh/North Carolina (2014-19)

��:��DaRon Holmes II, Dayton (2021-24)

Jones is the only “one-and-done” player to make the starting five. How can you leave him out? He was named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2015 after taking over the national championship game. His 23 points led Duke’s comeback from down nine with 12 minutes to go against Wisconsin. The Blue Devils have fielded several super-teams since 2015, but that remains their last championship squad.

Braun was also part of a memorable NCAA title game in 2022, when his 12-point double-double helped the Jayhawks erase a 15-point halftime deficit against North Carolina. For Braun, that was the culmination of a three-year, 101-game career at Kansas.

Hardaway had a similar career arc at Michigan, where he quickly earned a starting role under John Beilein and eventually co-starred with Trey Burke on a 2011-12 team that won the regular-season conference title and on a 2012-13 team that reached the championship game. Hardaway was a First-Team All-Big 10 selection that year. The Wolverines may have fallen short against No. 1 overall seed Louisville, but is one of the enduring moments from an awesome game.

Only three current Nuggets while in college. Holmes earned Second Team honors his third and final year at Dayton, when he led the Atlantic 10 in points (20.4) and rebounds (8.5) while averaging 2.1 blocks and shooting 39% from three. It’s perhaps the best individual college season anyone on Denver’s roster has had. Holmes led the Flyers to a No. 7 seed and an NCAA Tournament win.

Johnson remains an avid fan of his Tar Heels, which could cause some chemistry issues with Jones in this unit. But if Holmes is the five, you can’t have a four-guard lineup. The pride of Duke and Carolina will have to sort out their differences. Johnson spent the last two seasons of college in Chapel Hill. As a fifth-year senior, he led UNC to a No. 1 seed and a Sweet 16 appearance, making First Team All-ACC and leading all power conference players in 3-point percentage (45.7%). He shot 40.5% from deep across his career, scoring 1,514 points between his two schools.

Bench

�ʳ�:��Jalen Pickett, Siena/Penn State (2018-23)

����:��Jamal Murray, Kentucky (2015-16)

����:��Julian Strawther, Gonzaga (2020-23)

�ʹ�:��Aaron Gordon, Arizona (2013-14)

��:��Zeke Nnaji, Arizona (2019-20)

Pickett and Murray are going to have to be high-usage early subs for the All-NCAA Nuggets. They deserve to be starters, but we’re not playing completely position-less basketball here. Although Murray’s lone season at Kentucky ended early in March, he was still a 20-point-per-game lottery pick and a Third-Team AP All-American alongside Tyler Ulis.

Pickett was a delightful college point guard to watch. Like Holmes, he was a Second-Team All-American for a non-blueblood program. He flirted with a triple-double in an NCAA Tournament win for Penn State, amassing 19 points, seven boards and eight assists. He had a 40-point game at both of his schools. Long live “Booty Ball.”

If you were to edit together a “One Shining Moment” video of the Nuggets’ best March Madness highlights, Strawther’s game-winning shot in the Sweet 16 would probably be the main feature. “Down one, to shoot it from the logo, it was a questionable shot,” he admitted to The Denver Post when reflecting on it a couple of years later. Nonetheless, his 35-footer cemented another March classic between Gonzaga and UCLA. When he was a freshman, Strawther also rode the bench for a Gonzaga squad that lost to Baylor in the championship game.

A pair of one-and-done Arizona Wildcats will fill out Denver’s frontcourt. Gordon and Nnaji were both named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in their brief college careers. They were both First-Team All-Pac-12. Gordon’s team fell one point short of a trip to the Final Four.

Honorable mentions

Props to two-way guard KJ Simpson for his first-round game-winner for Colorado a couple of years ago. Also to Brown (Miami) and Curtis Jones (Iowa State), both of whom made multiple NCAA Tournaments. Again, this backcourt is cutthroat.

Water boy

The All-NCAA Nuggets can probably spare Jokic a spot behind the bench. Certainly not on the court. You expect a 41st overall pick to play?

They needed only remember their last matchup with the 76ers, when the roles were reversed — when Denver’s entire starting five was absent and Philly’s “Big Three” was fully intact. It was back in January, and Jalen Pickett, Hunter Tyson and Zeke Nnaji prevailed over Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid in a sentimental shocker. Now, Justin Edwards, Dalen Terry and Adem Bona were trying to return the favor.

“They’re dangerous,” coach David Adelman said before opening tip, “because when other guys are out like that, the green light is so bright.”

The Nuggets never allowed those memories to creep back in after the game started. With a 124-96 rout, they swept the season series against Philadelphia and improved to 17-12 against the Eastern Conference this year. Toronto is Denver’s last remaining East opponent on the schedule.

Why Nikola Jokic, Nuggets maintain they’ve played good basketball recently. Even without wins to show for it.

Playing a subdued 25 minutes before a back-to-back Wednesday in Memphis, Nikola Jokic scored a season-low eight points, easily short of his previous minimum (14). He was content to facilitate Denver to a lopsided win instead, piling up 14 assists. Christian Braun was the team's leading scorer with 22 points on nine shots to celebrate his bobblehead being given away to ticketed fans. He also contributed five rebounds, three assists and a steal in his 27 minutes, the latest display of his reinvigorated health near the end of a season plagued by injury.

Offensively, the Nuggets (42-27) played with pace and cruised to a 30-point first-half lead with remarkably balanced output. Cam Johnson didn't miss a 3-pointer en route to 18 points. He's 55% from deep in the last four games, three of which Denver has won.

Jamal Murray bounced back from one of the worst games of his career with an understated 12 points, six boards and four assists. Aaron Gordon matched him in scoring and helped to spearhead a strong defensive effort from his team. Bruce Brown led an impressive night for the bench with 12 points. Braun was the game's only 20-point scorer for either team.

It was all in limited playing time on a night the Nuggets needed to take it easy. Their visit to Memphis wasn't supposed to be on the schedule, but it got sandwiched into the middle of their homestand in January after a blizzard postponed the original game. Last week, Denver benefitted from a rout of the Rockets under similar circumstances; starters were rested going into a back-to-back at San Antonio, enabling a second wind against the Spurs and a 20-point comeback victory.

Adelman said Gordon's status for Memphis was unclear, but he conceded that if it was up to him, Gordon would play.

For the 76ers, Tuesday was a collision of unfortunate events. Their All-NBA point guard Maxey is out with a finger injury. George remains suspended after testing positive for a banned substance in January. Embiid is nearing a return from an abdominal injury, but he hadn't been cleared yet in time to revive the battle of MVP centers. It was the sixth consecutive game in Denver that he's missed, a streak dating back to 2019 that has become something of an afterthought the last two years amid his declining overall availability.

Still, the Philadelphia big man was treated to a chorus of boos when he emerged from the tunnel early in the second half. One sign in the Ball Arena lower bowl taunted him with a lousy knock-knock joke. (Who's there? Not Embiid.) Bona and Andre Drummond comprised Nick Nurse's center rotation instead.

Jokic and the shooters and cutters around him instantly dismantled Nurse's game plan. Aaron Gordon and Braun reaped the rewards of their center's surgical passing and combined for 19 early points. The Nuggets scored 20 off eight Jokic assists in the first nine minutes, confidently assembling a 31-16 lead.

Then Jokic picked up two fouls and a technical in a five-second span, sending him to a premature seat on the bench. If the 76ers were going to have a window into upset territory, it was going to be now. But the Nuggets' bench padded the lead this time, rather than letting it slip away. Backup center Jonas Valanciunas, who had struggled lately in high-stakes games, went for eight points and nine rebounds to anchor Adelman's reserve lineups. He was a plus-15 in 18 minutes.

This time, they passed.

Nikola Jokic potted an 8-footer with 22.3 seconds left to clinch a 120-113 win over the Lakers on Thursday, keeping Denver (39-24) 1.5 games in front of Los Angeles for fifth place in the Western Conference. Sloppy throughout the night, Jokic tightened up and scored four crucial points in a row after Austin Reaves missed a game-tying free throw with 2:05 remaining.

Marcus Smart also missed a pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers as the Nuggets managed to get the ball out of Luka Doncic’s hands for a few pivotal defensive possessions. The Lakers arrived in Denver with a 17-5 record in games involving clutch time — the same situations that have been the bane of Denver’s existence since Jokic returned from a knee injury.

Jokic’s 28 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists helped him overcome a nine-turnover night. Jamal Murray matched him with 28 points. Julian Strawther added 18. Christian Braun played a team-high 40 minutes, amassing 15 points, five rebounds and four assists while bottling up Doncic admirably. The Slovenian star’s 27 points required 24 shots.

LeBron James was able to return late in the game after a brief injury scare in the fourth quarter. With a baseline jumper in the first frame, he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most field goals made in NBA history.

JJ Redick’s top priority defensively against Jokic, he said before opening tip, would be to “stop him from getting the ball” — a principle consistent with how Utah guarded him Monday and how Redick schemed for him as a first-time head coach last season. But Jokic was able to catch at the elbows without any resistance early in the game this time as Deandre Ayton guarded him straight up.

Denver jumped out to an 11-0 lead. The Lakers took four minutes to make their first shot from the field. When they finally did, they failed to get back, and Braun sprinted the other way for an easy fast-break bucket off the make. Ayton checked out with a 16-3 deficit and never returned. The Lakers said it was a knee injury at halftime.

Jaxson Hayes took over as their center. As the game went on, they downsized to defend Jokic more often, led by the usual suspect Rui Hachimura. Sometimes, they started a possession with the big on him, but also tried to bring a second defender over to front after giving up a switch. Five minutes after halftime, Jokic was at the offensive end of the floor when he picked up his fourth foul, drawn by former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart (6-foot-3).

David Adelman kept him in the game for a precarious few minutes. Jokic was compromised at the defensive end, especially when Los Angeles attacked him in space, but he also had a triple-double by the end of the third quarter. Denver was nursing a 93-86 lead into the fourth when Doncic banked a circus 3-pointer while falling into the stands.

Adelman went bigger in both the starting lineup and non-Jokic minutes than he had been recently. He didn’t have much of a choice in this matchup, against a Lakers team that revolves around two wing-sized ball-handlers in Doncic and James. The problem was Denver’s shortage of size on the wing. Cam Johnson remained out with a mild ankle injury. Spencer Jones was sidelined by a shoulder strain that popped up in recent days. Aaron Gordon was on the verge of returning from his hamstring strain — he looked unbothered while going through his pregame shooting routine — but Denver was still sorely missing him for at least one more night. Peyton Watson is unlikely to play Friday against New York, according to a league source.

“The wings are not playing,” an exasperated Adelman declared Thursday during his pregame news conference.

Enter Zeke Nnaji. He started at power forward next to Jokic. He also played the four next to Jonas Valanciunas with the second unit, mostly to stay semi-glued to James’ minutes while Braun handled Doncic. The Nuggets broke even in Nnaji’s 23 minutes, as he went for five points and five boards. They stretched the lead to 101-88 early in the fourth, only for an 11-1 run to bleed into Jokic’s minutes. Denver’s lead was 108-101 with five minutes to go.