Nikola Jokic has played in enough best-of-seven showdowns in the playoffs to know that he and his teammates can overcome a 2-1 series deficit.
But they better respond quickly, he said.
“The next one is a really important game for us,” Jokic said. “We’ve got to get out there with urgency and play much better.”
The Denver Nuggets will try to even the series at 2-all when they tip off against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Minnesota has won back-to-back games in the series, including a dominant 113-96 victory in Game 3 on Thursday. The Timberwolves’ big win followed a war of words between the teams that was sparked by Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels calling out Nuggets players by name and labeling them as “bad defenders.”
McDaniels backed up his comments in Game 3 by scoring 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting and pulling down 10 rebounds.
His next task will be to try to do it again.
“I take any matchup, whoever I’m guarding, personally,” McDaniels said. “It’s just a pride thing. I love to compete.”
Meanwhile, Nuggets coach David Adelman wants to see his players battle a little harder on offense in Game 3.
“We talked about it after the game,” Adelman said. “Our physicality offensively has got to get better. …
“We’ve got to screen better. We’ve got to cut better. We’ve got to handle the pressure much better than we did (in Game 2).”
Any resurgence from the Nuggets’ offense will need to start with Jokic. He is averaging 25.3 points per game in the series, tied with Jamal Murray for the team lead, but he is shooting 40% overall and 20.8% from 3-point range.
By contrast, Jokic shot 56.9% overall and 38% from 3-point range in the regular season.
Adelman downplayed Jokic’s inconsistent results on offense, especially after Game 3 in which he shot 7 of 26 from the field and 2 of 10 from beyond the arc.
“He just missed,” Adelman said. “I really mean it. I thought the 3s were really good shots for the most part. The 2-point shots as far as the face-up jumpers, getting to the rim, these are things that he’s going to do. He had a tough night, and it happens to players.
“This guy has played a million playoff games,” the coach continued. “There’s nights that are poor. I think he’ll bounce back. I think everybody just needs a day to understand that we did not play well offensively. … So, a lot to improve on offensively, and a lot of stuff I think we can build on defensively.”
The Timberwolves are led by Anthony Edwards, who is averaging 23 points per game in the series but also has struggled to find his rhythm. Edwards is shooting 39% overall and 25% from 3-point range, compared with his regular-season shooting of 48.9% overall and 39.9% from beyond the arc.
Guard Ayo Dosunmu will look to stay hot for Minnesota after coming off the bench to score 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting in Game 3. Dosunmu also dished nine assists.
The Nuggets listed forward Aaron Gordon as questionable for Saturday’s game because of left calf tightness. Gordon missed Thursday’s contest because of the injury. He initially was listed as probable for the game before being downgraded to questionable and then ruled out.
