Overreaction theater: 5 major takeaways from Timberwolves game 1 win over Nuggets

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.

#1: Anthony Edwards was the best player on the court

Edwards was straight-up brilliant in this game and took over in ways that are special for a 22-year-old. His ascension to superstardom is happening right before our eyes. It was one thing for him to do it against an overmatched Suns team, but he made the Nuggets look overmatched on Saturday night.

Edwards had 43 points and hit every big shot down the stretch to close this game out. The Nuggets had it close but Edwards shined brightest in the final minutes with clutch baskets over and over.

His combination of size and strength makes it tough for anyone in Denver to match up. Aaron Gordon is a little too slow and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a little too small. Edwards was having his way with anyone the Nuggets threw at him. Denver is going to have to make some major adjustments to slow Ant down, and it likely means more doubles and blitzes.

Nikola Jokic put up his usual great numbers for the Nuggets, but Minnesota made him work hard and made him uncomfortable, including forcing him to settle for nine three-pointers. Joker had 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists, but it rarely felt like he was dictating the game. That is going to have to change. For the Nuggets to take this series, Jokic needs to be the best player.

#2: The Timberwolves are NOT the Lakers

This isn’t a hot take or anything, but my goodness it was immediately glaring what a step up in competition this series will be for the Nuggets. The Lakers obviously have great talent in their two all-time players, but that team is old, slow, and lacking in a lot of areas.

The Nuggets may have fallen into some bad habits in that Lakers series and may have been in cruise control more than they should have been. Meanwhile, the Wolves were snatching souls and destroying the Phoenix Suns' entire franchise in four business-like games.

It was clear pretty early on Saturday night that the Wolves' size, speed, and athleticism were on another level and the Nuggets didn’t look ready for it. It was talked about at length how the Nuggets were coasting through Lakers games only to turn it on and pull away in the fourth quarter.

Well, that’s not going to work against the Timberwolves. This is a damn good team and they punished Denver for a slow start in game 1. The Nuggets need to approach these games with a sense of urgency right from the jump or they’ll be in big trouble. They can’t sit back and expect to make a big comeback every game against this defense.

#3: Wolves smothering Denver with their size

The Lakers are considered one of the bigger teams in the league, but that seemed like night and day when facing the Timberwolves. Minnesota was able to have Karl-Anthony Town use his quickness to try and stay in front of Jokic while matching up reasonably with size. That allowed Rudy Gobert to roam around, bothering and dissuading shots while adding an extra layer of protection at the rim.

The Wolves had a sizable advantage down low all night, winning the rebounding battle, second-chance points, points in the paint, and blocking more shots. Usually, if the Nuggets have a disadvantage it can be at the three-point line but that wasn’t the case.

The Wolves just throttled Denver at their own game for the most part, smothering them inside and dictating the matchup with physicality. It’s unusual to see the Nuggets pushed off their sports but that was the case as the Wolves owned the inside.

I’m not sure if there’s really an adjustment Denver can make to match the size of the Wolves. I doubt playing De’Andre Jordan or Zeke Nnaji is going to help much. They are just going to have be play better, and make a more concerted effort to crash the boards 1-5.

#4: Jamal Murray needs to get healthy, fast

Jamal Murray didn’t look right at all in the first half, hobbling around, failing to score or make shots, and getting targeted relentlessly on the defensive end. Murray’s late-game heroics against the Lakers masked a pretty poor overall performance, but that’s not going to work in this series.

The Nuggets need a legitimate star sidekick to Jokic to have a real chance and Murray wasn’t able to provide that on Saturday night. He had a better second half and got it going a little bit but that was nowhere near the effort required.

It’s not clear exactly how much of this is health-related as Murray has been dealing with a calf strain, but he’s going to have to find a way to be better. Michael Porter Jr. was the Nuggets’ second-best player for much of the night, and while that’s great that he’s playing so well it can’t be in place of the Murray role.

Hopefully, with time Murray will heal physically and start to look better, but it’s only one day off before these teams are back at it for a critical game 2. The Nuggets need to find ways to hide Murray on defense, mitigating his ineffectiveness on that end. And on offense, they need to get him going early with some open looks to take some pressure off of Jokic.

#5: Nuggets bench consistency still an issue

Overall, the Nuggets bench was a big part of their late first-quarter run and a major reason they were in the game at all. But that was oddly due to some great minutes from Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday. While it’s great to get those performances, I’m not sure that can be relied on. It’s more concerning how little Christian Braun and Peyton Watson were offering.

Those were supposed to be guys who could step up and play like extra starters, maybe even closing games when needed. But they didn’t look up to the task on Saturday night. The Wolves are supposed to have the bench advantage in this series, but that wasn’t the case in game 1.

You’d have to imagine the Wolves bench will play better, although Naz Reid did have a huge fourth quarter. And the Nuggets may not get better showings from Jackson and Holiday. They are going to need Braun and Watson to show up and match some of the long, athletic wings of the Wolves.

This is especially glaring when Denver’s starters struggle, as they did in game 1. The bottom line is that the Nuggets need to get more production, and the most likely candidates off the bench didn’t look like they were up to it. That is going to need to change in game 2.