The Timberwolves came into Denver and put on an impressive display, winning game one 106-99. It’s only one game, but there are reasons to be scared for Nuggets fans. Nothing about this loss felt particularly fluky, and outside of a 21-3 run late in the first quarter, the Wolves largely dominated this game from start to finish.
The Nuggets are the defending champs for a reason and there’s no doubt they will bounce back and play better. But this Wolves team is good and Denver certainly can’t afford to go down 0-2 in this series heading to Minnesota.
That puts a little extra weight on game 2 for the Nuggets. The Wolves are playing with house money after already stealing a game on the road but they could grab this thing by a stranglehold if they can take the next one. The term “must-win” has become a tired cliche when teams aren’t actually facing elimination, but this is about as close as it comes.
The Nuggets are going to have to make some adjustments and figure some things out in a hurry as they prepare for game 2 on Monday night. Here are 5 of the biggest reasons things went wrong for the home team in game 1.