Stud #2: Jaden McDaniels
Role players generally perform better at home, but that hasn’t proven to be the case very often during this Western Conference Semifinal. But Jaden McDaniels picked a great time to get his offense going.
He scored 21 points on 8/10 shooting and hit 3/5 three-pointers. When he is hitting shots and creating gravity on offense this team is on another level and that opens things up all over the court. They have to be able to make teams pay for selling out to stop Ant, and McDaniels burying shots does that in a major way.
Jaden McDaniels nasty crossover + lefty finish pic.twitter.com/CCjBybcAxq
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) May 17, 2024
He is always a rock on defense, but his intensity and aggression seemed to be ramped up a level. He was swarming the Nuggets’ ballhandlers full court and making life difficult for Denver’s offense all over the court. He was flying around creating turnovers and blocking shots left and right and guarding players inside and out.
Watch Jaden McDaniels on Jamal Murray through this whole possession. pic.twitter.com/xJ4L2z6yqd
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) May 17, 2024
McDaniels, like many Wolves players, seemed to benefit from the return of Mike Conley to settle things down on the offensive end, but so much of it is just hitting open shots and making the defense respect it. Jaden’s shooting is a huge swing point for these games and if he’s shooting this well, the Wolves offense goes to another level.