Wolves' Jaden McDaniels Rips Nikola Jokic, 'Entire' Nuggets Team as 'Bad Defenders' in Video

Jaden McDaniels doesn't think much of the Denver Nuggets' defense after the Minnesota Timberwolves evened up their Western Conference playoff series with a 119-114 win in Game 2 on Monday night.

Speaking to reporters after the victory, McDaniels went at the "entire" Nuggets team for being "bad defenders" with no one who can protect the rim.

That lack of defensive aptitude came back to bite the Nuggets, who blew a 19-point lead and missed an opportunity to take a 2-0 series lead heading to Minnesota.

Timberwolves-Nuggets Highlights

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It didn't help that Denver's offense, which is the strength of the team, fell apart in the second half. The Nuggets were held to 50 points on 37.2 percent shooting, including 5-of-21 from three-point range, after the intermission.

Even though McDaniels has given the Nuggets bulletin-board material, his main point isn't wrong.

The Nuggets ranked 21st in defensive rating during the regular season. That was the worst among all of the teams that made the playoffs or play-in tournament.

By comparison, the Nuggets did have the best offensive rating in the NBA. Their 122.6 rating was the second-best in league history. If they are going to make a run to the NBA Finals, it has to be on the strength of their offensive carrying a heavy load.

Nikola Jokić has had a slow start to the series, at least by his lofty standards. He's averaging 24.5 points, 14.0 rebounds and 9.5 assists, but his field-goal percentage (48.0) and three-point percentage (21.4) are both down significantly from the regular season when shot 56.9 percent overall and 38.9 percent from behind the arc.

With the series heading to Minnesota, the Nuggets and Timberwolves will play a pivotal Game 3 on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. ET.