The Minnesota Timberwolves shockingly dumped the Denver Nuggets out of the playoffs with a 98-90 win in Game 7 on Sunday. In the aftermath, Nikola Jokic was asked if the Timberwolves are a team that could be a rival of the Nuggets in the future and he stated they are built to beat them as of now.

“Yes. I think they’re built to beat us,” Jokic said. “Just look at their roster, they have basically two All-Stars, two probably first defensive players (All-Defensive First Team) in the year, Mike Conley, who’s the most underrated player in the NBA probably.

“I love the guy. He’s so good and he always makes the right play,” Jokic continued. “He didn’t shoot as well this game (but) in one moment he was the leading rebounder in the game for them. 

“From the bench, they have a sixth player of the year, they have Kyle (Anderson) and (Nickeil Alexander-Walker) who was really good from them,” Jokic stated. “They can do literally everything. They can be big, small.”

Well, the Timberwolves are certainly better equipped to beat the Nuggets than any other team in the NBA. It has been pointed out by many by now that Tim Connelly, the Timberwolves’ president of basketball operations, had previously worked with the Nuggets.

Connelly held that same role with the Nuggets from 2017 to 2022 and helped build this roster. After joining the Timberwolves, he set about building a team that could beat the one he had previously built.

The Timberwolves have three big men in Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, and Naz Reid, whom they can throw at Jokic to slow him down a little bit (as the Los Angeles Lakers did in the Bubble). It speaks to the three-time MVP’s greatness, that he still ended up having a fine series.

Jokic averaged 29.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game against the Timberwolves. With the exception of a couple of games, though, we didn’t see the 29-year-old at his devastating best and Minnesota deserves credit for that.

The Timberwolves’ size also ensured that the Nuggets wouldn’t crush them on the glass. We saw Denver dominate that rebounding battle against the Lakers in the first round, but that didn’t happen here. The Timberwolves even secured some huge offensive rebounds down the stretch in Game 7 to keep them at bay.

On the perimeter, meanwhile, Minnesota has the likes of Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards to slow down someone like Jamal Murray. While Murray was not quite at his best in this series due to injuries, the Timberwolves would have given him plenty of headaches even if he was healthy.

Even with Minnesota being built this way, though, it took seven games ultimately to knock out Denver. I don’t believe that the Timberwolves will definitely beat them again if the teams meet next season, but the Nuggets might have to make some changes to their roster this offseason to be in a better position in 2025.

Michael Porter Jr. Apologized To His Teammates For His Poor Showing In Game 7

I mentioned that the Timberwolves are equipped to slow down Jokic and Murray, but the two played well in Game 7. No one else on the team did, though, with Michael Porter Jr. recording just 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks while going 3-12 from the field. Altitude TV’s Katy Winge shared that Porter apologized to the team after Game 7.

“Michael Porter Jr said he apologized to the team after the game and felt like this loss was on him. He said if he would’ve played the way he knows he can play the Nuggets would’ve won this series.”

That game was just a continuation of what we had seen from Porter against the Timberwolves. He ended up averaging just 10.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game in this series. He also shot only 37.1% from the field and 32.5% from beyond the arc. Had Porter played just a little bit better, the Nuggets might well have won this series.

Mi