The Denver Gazette

Denver goes tall, starting Jokic and McGee, in win over Timberwolves.

BY VINNY BENEDETTO

A twin-towers look helped the Nuggets take down the Timberwolves on Thursday in the Twin Cities.

“I knew they’d be able to play together,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of Nikola Jokic and JaVale McGee. “I didn’t expect them to have the night they had the first time doing so.”

Jokic and McGee started, played their most extensive minutes together and recorded double-doubles in Denver’s 114-103 win over Minnesota, which kept the Nuggets a game back of the Clippers for the three seed in the Western Conference.

“Personally, I was excited to start, so I definitely had a chip on my shoulder to where I wanted to go out there and play as hard as I could,” McGee said after scoring 12 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking two shots in 24-plus minutes.

Jokic led the Nuggets with 31 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. The tall tandem helped the Nuggets outscore the Timberwolves in the paint 60-30.

“To be honest, I think I could play with anybody in the lineup, but he was playing good,” Jokic said of McGee. “He was rebounding for us really well. He was blocking a couple of shots. He was a really good rim protector today.”

Michael Porter Jr. resting on the first night of a back-to-back led Malone to slide Aaron Gordon, who finished with 15 points, to small forward and Jokic to power forward, allowing McGee to play center. Malone likened it to Jokic playing alongside Mason Plumlee in previous years.

“He’s so skilled he can play off of, and with any other big, and he’s going to make them better,” Malone said.

Jokic cleaned up a McGee miss to open the scoring and continued his strong start in a 16-point first quarter, helping the Nuggets lead by nine to start the second. Denver increased the lead to 11 by halftime before the Timberwolves, led by rookie Anthony Edwards, cut the deficit to three to start the fourth. After allowing 37 points in the third, Denver gave up 14 points in the fourth to hold the lead for the entire second half.

“That third-quarter defense was unacceptable,” Malone said before moving on to Edwards, who finished with 29 points, most of which came in the third.

“He really got them going. But to respond in that fourth quarter – we were struggling to make shots ourselves – but that’s where your defense has to be your anchor, when you’re struggling to score, struggling to make shots. You have to rely upon your defense and your defensive rebounding to keep you in the game. That’s what allowed us to win it.”

Austin Rivers added 12 points as the fourth starter in double figures, while Markus Howard (15) and Vlatko Cancar (14) posted career scoring highs off the bench.

“The great thing about it was, I don’t think either one of them forced it,” Malone said. “They played within the offense. They played within themselves and when the ball found them, they were ready.”

Monte Morris also got the night off, but Malone said pregame he’s expected to play against the Pistons on Friday. Jokic, who played 32 minutes, said he didn’t plan to take any time off in the final two games of the regular season.

“I’m just going to do what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to play, so I just played,” Jokic said.

“It’s easier for me, so I just played.” That could create more opportunities for Malone to try out more two-big lineups, something he said he’s considered since the Nuggets acquired McGee at the trade deadline. McGee certainly sounded up for more court time alongside Denver’s star.

“I definitely think this can definitely be a lineup in the future, especially with teams that play two bigs. I definitely fell like it gives Jok definitely some time off his legs on the defensive end when he has to guard the best (opposing big), especially when it’s a big that’s a scorer and everything,” McGee said on a night Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 points, nearly five fewer than his season average.

“I can guard him and he (Jokic) doesn’t have to worry about any of that. He can just do what he does on offense.”

SPORTS

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2021-05-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.denvergazette.com/article/282046214984452

The Gazette, Colorado Springs