The short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves sent the Denver Nuggets out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in four years. After the series win, head coach Chris Finch revealed his team's mentality going into the series. 

The Timberwolves closed out the series in front of their home crowd with a 110-98 victory over the Nuggets. During the postgame presser, Finch told reporters that the Nuggets' deliberate attempt to choose the Timberwolves as their first-round opponent was taken as an insult by his players.

“Our guys took it personal,” Finch told reporters. “Denver had the chance to pick who they wanted to play coming down the stretch, and they chose us. “We used that as motivation. They didn't have to choose us. They chose us. Our guys were up for the challenge of that.”

The Nuggets won their last 12 games of the regular season to finish as 3rd seed. They were just one game ahead of the 4th seed, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the 5th seed, the Houston Rockets.

Denver played their last two games against the OKC Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. Despite not fielding Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets won both contests, placing themselves against the 6th-seeded Timberwolves in the first round.

The Nuggets were heavily favored to win Game 6, given the T’Wolves’ injury list. They were missing Anthony Edwards with a knee injury, Donte DiVincenzo with a torn Achilles tendon, and Kyle Anderson with illness. Shortly before Game 6, Ayo Dosunmu was also ruled out with a calf injury.

Jaden McDaniels backs up his trash talk, leads Minnesota’s win over Nuggets 

Very early in this series, Jaden McDaniels embraced the villain role. After defeating the Nuggets at their home in Denver, McDaniels called out their best players for their poor defense. Over a week later, the Timberwolves player backed his trash talk with a big game to send them home. 

In the series-clinching 110-98 win over Denver, McDaniels scored a game-high 32 points. He shot 13 of 25 shots from the field. He was as effective on the defensive end, tallying 10 rebounds, two steals, and a block in 45 minutes. 

With the depleted backcourt, Finch inserted Terrence Shannon in the starting lineup. The 25-year-old player didn’t disappoint. He added 24 points alongside Julius Randle’s 18 points. Naz Reid also added 15 points off the bench. 

The Timberwolves will face the San Antonio Spurs in the second round. They are still shorthanded and will miss Anthony Edwards at least for the first few games. He is out for multiple weeks. 

Do you think the Timberwolves can still pull off a big upset in the second round? Let us know in the comments section.

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Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Souvik Roy