T-Wolves' Jaden McDaniels Shades Nikola Jokic, Nuggets in Video After NBA Playoffs Series Win

It's safe to say Jaden McDaniels is enjoying his victory lap after leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a victory over the Denver Nuggets in their first-round playoff series.

Appearing on Friday's episode of NBA Today on ESPN, McDaniels shaded the Nuggets by saying "basically" they aren't at Minnesota's level after losing to them the last two times they have met in the postseason.

Playing without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo for the final two games due to injuries, as well as Ayo Dosunmu in Game 6 due to a calf injury, the Timberwolves turned to McDaniels to elevate them.

McDaniels responded with arguably the best game of his career given the stage on Thursday night. He scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 110-98 win to send the T-Wolves to the Western Conference semifinals.

Nuggets-Timberwolves Highlights

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McDaniels made headlines earlier in the series when he said after Game 2 that the Nuggets were a team built on "bad defenders" that the Timberwolves could go after.

It wasn't an unfair comment because the Nuggets had the worst defensive rating of any team that made the playoffs this season, but there was an element of poking the bear because of what Denver's offense could do when Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray were locked in.

One way that McDaniels and the Timberwolves solved that issue was by never letting the Nuggets' star duo really get locked in. Murray shot 35.7 percent from the field in the six-game series.

Jokić nearly averaged a triple-double in the series with 25.8 points, 13.2 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game, but this was his worst postseason by field-goal percentage (44.6) and three-point percentage (19.4).

The Timberwolves have sent the Nuggets home twice in the past three seasons. They overcame a 20-point deficit on the road in Game 7 in the 2023 Western Conference semifinals.

Thursday's win was much less dramatic because the Timberwolves didn't trail after going up 44-42 midway through the second quarter. The Nuggets were able to even things up at 69 late in the third, but Minnesota closed the quarter on a 13-5 run to go back on top.

As the Timberwolves hope to get Edwards back at some point during their second-round series against the San Antonio Spurs, McDaniels will be once again tasked with leading the way as they look to continue this surprise playoff run given how many injuries they have sustained.