Bennett Durando is the Colorado Avalanche beat writer for The Denver Post. Before taking on his first NHL beat, he covered SEC football and other sports for five years, first at his alma mater, Missouri, for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Columbia Missourian, then Auburn for the Montgomery Advertiser.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, right, works against Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Minneapolis. The Nuggets were one of the last three unbeaten teams in the NBA, but all good things must come to an end.
Denver started the game 0 for 8 from the field and without a point when coach Michael Malone used his first timeout. Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert absorbed Nikola Jokic’s bumps and gave him a dose of his own physicality. Jaden McDaniels’ length on the wing neutralized the Nuggets’ guards early, especially Jamal Murray. Murray and Michael Porter Jr. shot a combined 1 for 14 in the first half. It was 48-35 before either of them scored.
The Timberwolves outscored the Nuggets 14-2 in fast-break points during the first half while opening up their 20-point lead. They also outscored Denver by 10 in the paint during the disastrous half, largely due to those transition points. The Nuggets have been one of the most paint-dependent offensive teams in the NBA through a small sample size, so their inability to match Minnesota’s pace and aggression — the foul line also favored the home team — was costly.
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