The Denver Nuggets opened their Western Conference playoff series with a convincing 116-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night at Ball Arena. Nikola Jokić delivered yet another triple-double — 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists — but the postgame comments from Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels may have handed the Nuggets the ultimate motivational gift.
“That’s what we need every time we play against Jokić is Rudy to compete,” McDaniels said. “That’s the best game we had from Rudy all year. Both ends, he did a good job. If he keeps doing that, we gonna win.”
On the surface, the statement sounds like standard competitor talk — praise for a teammate’s effort and a vote of confidence in the defensive anchor. Yet dig a little deeper, and McDaniels’ words land like a bombshell in Denver. Because if Rudy Gobert’s performance in Game 1 truly represented the best he can offer against Jokić, the Timberwolves are in serious trouble.
The math is unforgiving. Gobert’s “best game of the year” on both ends of the floor still resulted in an 11-point road loss. The Nuggets, meanwhile, were far from their sharpest. The league’s top three-point shooting team during the regular season at 39.6 percent connected on just 27.8 percent from beyond the arc in Game 1. Minnesota actually shot the ball better from the field and from three-point range than Denver did — and still came up short.
That discrepancy tells the real story. Even on a night when the Nuggets’ perimeter shooting abandoned them, they cruised to victory. Jamal Murray poured in 30 points despite an uncharacteristic 0-for-8 night from three-point range. Cam Johnson, who finished the regular season at 43 percent from downtown, went just 2-for-7. Both players have far higher floors — and ceilings — than what they showed Monday. Murray, after all, set the Nuggets’ franchise record for made threes this season and posted multiple 10-three games. An 0-for-8 performance is the exception, not the rule.
Contrast that with Jokić. In this “best defensive effort” from Gobert, the Serbian superstar still posted a triple-double. For perspective, Jokić dropped 56 points, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists against the Timberwolves on Christmas Day. If Gobert’s Game 1 level is the ceiling, any regression from the big man could unleash Jokić at or near his season averages of 38.3 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 11.3 assists.
McDaniels’ optimism is understandable. He’s framing Gobert’s effort as a moral victory, the kind of performance that, paired with better supporting casts, could flip the script. The sentiment is relatable — but reality is harsher. When the opponent’s best defensive night still produces a comfortable loss, and that opponent has multiple rotation pieces who underperformed offensively, the path to a competitive series narrows dramatically.
The Nuggets did not play their best basketball. They still won by double digits on the road. If Murray and Johnson merely return to their normal levels, and Jokić maintains anything close to his usual dominance, Denver’s margin for error remains enormous. The Timberwolves, by McDaniels’ own admission, have already shown their high-water mark against Jokić — and it wasn’t enough.
Game 1 was supposed to be the tone-setter. Instead, it may have revealed the tone of the entire series: a quick, decisive knockout in favor of the defending Western Conference champions. If Jaden McDaniels is right about Rudy Gobert’s ceiling, the Nuggets are not just favored to win the series. They’re positioned to end it sooner than most expected.