Bennett Durando is the Denver Nuggets beat writer for The Denver Post. Before moving to Colorado, where he started as The Post's Avalanche beat writer, he covered SEC football, basketball and other sports for five years: first reporting on his alma mater, Missouri, for the St.
Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets holds Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves at bay during the second quarter at Ball Arena in Denver on Sunday, May 19, 2024. There’s the unusual timing on both sides. For the Timberwolves, it was an abrupt severing of a core that lifted the franchise to new historic heights five months earlier.
The Nuggets’ starting lineup had averaged 125.9 points per 100 possessions during the regular season, in 958 minutes of playing time. No other five-man lineup in the NBA posted a higher offensive rating in more than 220 minutes. But against the Timberwolves, that same unstoppable Denver lineup was shockingly stifled in 136 minutes, finishing the second-round series with a 102.6 offensive rating.
“We’re worried about us,” Nuggets coach Michael said when asked about the trade last week in Abu Dhabi. “We don’t concern ourselves with what’s going on outside of our gym. We’re just worried about the Denver Nuggets and what we try to do on a daily basis.” Perhaps he possessed a greater understanding than most executives, owing to his close proximity to Denver, of what the Nuggets were about to become. But if that was truly the driving force behind the Timberwolves’ roster moves, they’ve suddenly abandoned it awfully fast.Enter Sam Presti, whose unfinished product of a roster last season already accomplished something intimidating. The Thunder were the youngest No. 1 seed in NBA history.
But some opponents might demand a different approach. A proven approach. If a defender as wobbly as Towns managed to help wreak so much havoc against Jokic, imagine what OKC can accomplish with two 7-footers who both have excellent reputations at that end of the floor. Hartenstein is the muscle. Holmgren is Gobert. The Nuggets could get an early look at that coverage next week when they host the Thunder in a preseason game — or a week later, for the season-opener at Ball Arena.
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