The Denver Nuggets have the best basketball player in the world, Nikola Jokic, and he's paired with Jamal Murray. The duo has spent a decade together. Aaron Gordon has been with the Nuggets for six years. They're in the playoffs again, facing the man who built them, Tim Connelly, and his new team, the Minnesota Timberwolves. A team he has built to beat the Nuggets. It's the Tim Connelly bowl!
It's no wonder the Timberwolves play the Nuggets so tough. Connelly has been with the Wolves since his departure from the Nuggets after the 2021-22 season. And the first thing he did when he got there was make the move to try to stop Jokic. The Nuggets are 15-15 against the Timberwolves since then, including the playoffs.
Connelly traded a slew of players and draft picks to the Utah Jazz to acquire Rudy Gobert. Connelly had been fond of Gobert before. He drafted Gobert with the 27th pick of the 1st round for the Nuggets. But Gobert was dealt to the Jazz for Erick Green in a deal that didn't work out for the Nuggets.
Connelly knew what to add to the Timberwolves for success
Connelly knew the Nuggets inside and out. He left one year too early to see a championship happen under his watch, but he built that team. He knew what to attack. He added Kyle Anderson for a physical presence on the wing and in the paint. They have Naz Reid, who stretches the floor and has a physical paint presence.
Connelly even brought in Bones Hyland, whom he drafted for the Nuggets in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft.
Connelly spent years watching the Nuggets play and practice. He knows them inside and out. He's obviously been in the ear of Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, discussing strategy. And it seems that the strategy is physical play and forcing Jokic to score.
The Nuggets can make the right adjustments with Jokic
The Nuggets have the smartest basketball player in the NBA, Nikola Jokic, and they need to utilize it. Head coach David Adelman and the coaching staff need to come up with a strategy that allows Jokic to use those smarts.
They didn't have it in the Game 2 loss. The Timberwolves knew to sag off Jokic and let him shoot threes, and they took away the Nuggets' back-door cuts. It forced the Nuggets to hit open shots, and they couldn't.
The fourth quarter was uncharacteristically bad for the Nuggets, especially Murray and Jokic, who combined for just four points. The Nuggets lost in the clutch, and the series is now tied 1-1.
It's proving tough to beat a team built to beat you. But the Nuggets are tough, and this series looks like it will be a battle. The Nuggets can prevail, but they have to adjust.
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