The Denver Nuggets were finally given a reality check on Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were brilliant on both ends of the court. The home-court fans were taken aback by Anthony Edwards’ attacks and the Wolves defense that succeeded in holding the Nuggets back. Following a 99-106 defeat in the first game of the Western Conference semi-finals, Denver’s Nikola Jokic figured out the key to succeeding against the Wolves in the series.
When Jokic was asked in the post-game press conference, “What’s the adjustment that you can make to them rotating Rudy Gobert, [Karl-Anthony Towns], and [Naz Reid] on you?” he amusingly answered with a smile, “To have a duplicate clone of myself, and then I can be fresh. When they sub another guy, I’m gonna be fresh.” The Serbian center further appreciated Minnesota’s defense and put his focus on the next game.
The strategy that the Wolves applied was to rotate the players throughout the game, which the Nuggets took time to adjust to. Standing tall in the center were Gobert, Towns, and Reid, who grabbed 21 rebounds, blocked three of the Nuggets’ shots, and chipped in 36 points together.
To break the defense line, a clone is exactly what the 2-time MVP might need in the upcoming games. Despite failing to snatch a win in the first encounter, there was a silver lining to Nikola Jokic’s night.
Nikola Jokic Creates NBA History in Defeat Against Timberwolves
Nikola Jokic has etched his name several times on the NBA’s historic feats this season with his remarkable performance. Even in the playoffs, he continued to show off his exceptional abilities and bagged another achievement.
After adding a team-high 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists to his name, the reigning NBA champion surpassed the names of Bob Cousy, Jaylen Brown, and Kevin Johnson, who had 2,018, 2,025, and 2,026 total playoff points, respectively, to become the 64th player in the list with a total of 2042 points in the playoff series till now.
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The Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd is a point ahead of Jokic on the list, whom he will easily exceed in the next game against the Timberwolves on Monday, where the latter will have the upper hand.
