5 reasons Nuggets should be panicking after nightmare game 2 loss to Timberwolves

Monday night’s game two of the Western Conference Semifinals felt like a borderline must-win affair for the Nuggets and instead, the team shockingly laid an egg. It was as bad as the team has looked in a big game in a long time and they looked completely lost all night.

The Timberwolves came out and punched Denver in the mouth and the Nuggets looked like they didn’t know what hit them. They were blitzed on defense from the jump, and despite missing Defensive Player of the Year Award favorite Rudy Gobert, they were completely suffocated all night by the Wolves.

The Nuggets will have three full days off before taking the court for game three in Minnesota; plenty of time to rest and process what just happened to them. This team is still the defending champions and they still have the best player on the planet. The Wolves are also a young team and this is uncharted territory for them.

We’ve seen crazy things happen in the NBA playoffs before, and this series is still far from over. There are certainly reasons for optimism, but at the same time, it’s important to be realistic. The odds are now extremely in favor of the Timberwolves. This would be a historically improbably comeback of sorts for the Nuggets.

Never say never, but it’s going to take a lot for the Nuggets to pull this one off. While there is still hope, there are plenty of reasons for concern. Here are 5 reasons why Nuggets fans should be hitting the panic button after their 106-80 game two loss.

Reason #1: Anthony Edwards has been the best player in the series

Through two games, Edwards has been the best player on the court and it hasn’t been particularly close. Ant-Man is taking a leap in real-time and ascending to superstar in an unbelievable way. He seems to be doing whatever he wants on offense while shooting lights out, and making an impact on defense. He’s oozing with confidence and the Nuggets have nobody who can stop him.

On the other side, Nikola Jokic looks completely overmatched in a way that is downright uncomfortable to watch. The Timberwolves defense is absolutely smothering Denver and that includes the Joker. Disturbingly, this was without even having their best defensive player, Rudy Gobert.

He looked like he was coming undone out there, and for once, he and the Nuggets don’t seem to have any answers to solve this Wolves defense. The size, strength, speed, and physicality of this series have overwhelmed the Nuggets in a jarring way.

One of the biggest advantages the Nuggets have had throughout their run is that they’ve always had the best player in the series, and Jokic has always had the most poise and stability. So far in this series that hasn’t been the case at all. If Ant continues to outplay Jokic, the Nuggets have no shot.

Reason #2: 33-421

This is the record of teams facing an 0-2 deficit in an NBA playoff series. That’s good for a winning percentage of 7.3%. In other words, the odds are decidedly not in Denver’s favor.

To make matters worse, a team has only come back to win a series after losing the first two games at home on five occasions in league history. The Nuggets are going to need to do something that is incredibly rarely seen in basketball history.

They are going to have to totally flip this series on its head, and they are going to have to do it on the road as three of the next four games (if necessary) will be played in Minnesota. Furthermore, while game three isn’t technically an elimination game, history would tell you it might as well be.

In playoff history, 154 teams have lost the first three games of a best-of-seven series, and all 154 of those teams have lost the series. The Celtics got close to pulling it off last season in the Eastern Conference Finals, but they were just the fourth team ever to even force a game seven after being down 0-3.

So, to state the obvious, the Nuggets have to turn it around, and it has to start on Friday night in game three.

Reason #3: Jamal Murray has been a nonfactor

Beyond the struggles of Jokic, Jamal Murray just looks completely out of sorts. He’s been dealing with a calf injury, and ankle and knee injuries before that. He’s been limping and hobbling around at various times.

But he was able to come through in game five against the Lakers and his struggles against the Wolves have looked like more than just injury. Murray looks small and slow out there. He’s getting manhandled by the bigger, more physical defenders of Minnesota and it’s really bothering Jamal.

The refs have let them play incredibly physically and Murray has never looked more frustrated than he did in game two. He couldn’t make a shot and he couldn’t buy a call. The situation boiled over in the second quarter when he angrily tossed a heating pad onto the court during play while seated on the bench.

Not only is this a poor display of emotions and a sign that Murray’s frustrations were getting the best of him, but it’s downright unsafe and he put himself at risk of a major fine or possibly even a suspension. Along with not contributing on offense at all, Murray has been getting picked on relentlessly on the defensive end.

To think, a week ago everyone was calling Jamal Murray one of the great playoff risers and clutch performers of all time, and now he almost looks like a liability out there. If he can’t rise to his usual level for game three and give the Nuggets a legitimate second star, this series is over.

Reason #4: Karl-Anthony Towns is playing the best basketball of his career

I mentioned earlier that Anthony Edwards has been the best player in this series and has outplayed Jokic. But perhaps even more shocking and troubling than that is the fact that Karl-Anthony Towns has actually been the second-best player in the series and has outplayed the likely MVP of the league.

Towns has been incredible on both ends in this series and for my money, he’s playing the best two-way basketball of his career. Towns is not only making his shots, he’s getting to the rim, finishing in traffic, battling on the boards, and playing with an overall intensity and force that I’ve rarely - if ever - seen from him.

I’ll take the loss on this one; I wasn’t sure if KAT had it in him to play like this on this stage. My skepticism of Towns was a big part of thinking the Nuggets would win this series. But Towns has proven me wrong in a big way and he’s been a massive part of the Wolves’ success in this series.

To do it without Gobert behind him in game two on the road made it even more impressive. The way he bodied Jokic up and managed to stay out of foul trouble was staggering. I could barely believe what I was watching at times, but it’s undeniable. Through two games, Towns has been better than Jokic.

Reason #5: Wolves’ role players dominating on both ends

Compounding the struggles of the Nuggets’ stars, they’re getting very little from the role players. On the other side, the Wolves role players have been excellent. Mike Conley has been the steady leader on the floor, Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been menacing on Jamal Murray, Jaden McDaniels is wreaking havoc all over the place, and even Kyle Anderson and Monte Morris have looked good for the Wolves.

Then there’s Naz Reid. Beyond Ant and KAT, you could make a case that Reid has been the third-best player in this series. He’s been his usual stellar self on offense, but he’s picked it up on defense in a remarkable way, more than holding his own on Jokic. I know I showed this sequence earlier and guess what, I'm showing it again from another angle. It was that damn good.

Meanwhile, the Denver role players have been shrinking. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope doesn’t look fully healthy and he’s been having a tough go of it on both ends. The bench players have mostly looked like deer in the headlights, with Christian Braun and Peyton Watson contributing almost nothing. Those two were supposed to be able to replace Bruce Brown and Jeff Green and in this series, that hasn’t been close to the case.

The Wolves’ role players are playing like stars and they’re doing it on the road. That’s scary for the Nuggets as it’s usually the opposite. So now the Nuggets are going to not only hope their guys can find their confidence on the road, but they also need the Wolves players to cool off at home.