The redemption song of Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels – MinnPost

When Jaden McDaniels caught the ball in Game 6 of the second round of the NBA playoffs in the left corner he was wide open – just the way the Denver Nuggets wanted him to be.

Rather than running out to cover him as he bent his knees to shoot, the Nuggets headed toward the basket to get the rebound. They figured he’d miss, and figured correctly. McDaniels three-pointer rattled against the insides of the rim and fell out for the 13^th time in his 15 three-point tries thus far in the second round playoff series between the Nuggets and his Minnesota Timberwolves.

Denver’s Aaron Gordon grabbed the rebound and dribbled speedily up the court, while McDaniels hustled from the corner to catch up with his defensive assignment, Michael Porter Jr. Over the half court line, Gordon and Porter crossed paths, Gordon handing the ball off while he clipped McDaniels in the jaw with his shoulder as McDaniels tried to spin his way back into coverage. Porter rose up and splashed his own trey to make it 9-2 Denver. Wolves coach Chris Finch called timeout.

This was the nadir for McDaniels and the Wolves. Down seven points within the first three minutes of a game where a loss would end what has been a charmed season in humbling fashion – four straight defeats after a pair of resounding victories.

“There were two responses,” Finch said after the game. “There was our response after the last three games. But the more important response was after we got down 9-2.”

Finch reminded his team to dig down on defense, get back in transition. Right out of the timeout the Wolves turned it over but got back quickly and forced a stop. Once again the ball went to McDaniels, who dribbled into the corner without resistance. On national television, the announcer described the action: “McDaniels (dared) to shoot it – and rattles it in!”

Just like that, the dike was broken. On the very next play, McDaniels poked the ball loose for a steal that Anthony Edwards turned into a slam dunk. The next score was a missed shot tapped out to McDaniels, who knifed in for a layup to tie the score. His next bucket – a soaring slam off a steal and a feed from Naz Reid with three minutes to play in the quarter – was the penultimate basket on a 27-2 Wolves onslaught that never really relented. The eye-rubbing final score: Wolves 115, Nuggets 70.

As usual, McDaniels was a force to be reckoned with defending out on the perimeter. What wasn’t usual was McDaniels finishing with 21 points – his previous high for the series was 11 –on 8 for 10 shooting, including 3 for 5 behind the three-point arc.

“Confidence, just confidence,” Finch said of the outburst. “He hadn’t been shooting the ball well. They are going to continue to give him good looks. It was his three that sparked us out of that timeout. We really needed to see that thing go down. Then everything came in the flow of the offense. He got a bunch of buckets in a lot of different ways and for us, when that’s happening with Jaden, we know we’re playing the right way.”

Related | Jaden McDaniels raised the bar on expectations last season. Can he meet the pressure on him this year?

KAT aims his voltage

It is no secret that Karl-Anthony Towns has had a history of up-and-down performances in the playoffs throughout his career. It has been a magnification of what occasionally plagues him in the regular season – he tries to do too much, gets flustered when it doesn’t work out, then compounds the problem seeking atonement. A couple years ago, Finch aptly described it as “stray voltage.”

But in what has now become a grueling seven-game series against the defending champion Nuggets, KAT has kept his troublesome dazzle on a short leash, and never more effectively than in the blowout on Thursday night.

The most effective Timberwolf to joust with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic is not the current Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert; it is KAT, who has honed the difficult knack of banging with Jokic without fouling too often. He intruded on the headspace of the game’s most brilliant tactician just enough to whittle a little profundity off his performance.

With KAT the primary person on his case, Jokic missed more than half his shots (9 for 19), and committed more turnovers (three) than he doled out assists (two). Supplanting stray voltage with unsung dedication, KAT sullied the cathartic spark that Jokic typically provides for his teammates.

On offense, it was more of the same low-key effectiveness. KAT, who had scored 22 points per game during the regular season and 19 thus far in the playoffs, contented himself with 10 in 29 minutes of play. But his five assists led the team – smart, simple passes that went to McDaniels and Gobert (thee and two assists, respectively), two players often ignored in the Wolves offensive flow. And his 13 rebounds were second to Gobert’s 14, and led the team until garbage time got Rudy three in the fourth quarter and KAT sat out.

Just as significantly, the voltage caused no damage. KAT had a single turnover, and didn’t foul in the second half after picking up three contending with Jokic when the score was closer. He wasn’t mentioned in questions to Finch during the postgame press conference. But his importance during Thursday’s game, and throughout most of this series, has been quietly crucial.  

Facts

In the 33 minutes and 39 seconds Ant was on the court Thursday night, the Wolves outscored the Nuggets by 43 points.

Game 7 will take place in Denver on Sunday. If the Knicks have already eliminated the Pacers in their best-of-seven series by then, the Wolves will play in the afternoon. If the Pacers even their series and force a seventh game with the Knicks, they will play in the afternoon and the Wolves and Nuggets will tip off at night.  

Finally, a brief word about Golden State Warriors center Draymond Green, whose team was eliminated from the playoffs weeks ago, allowing him to take a gig as a commentator on the popular TNT show “Inside the NBA.”

Green has had a long and unpleasant rivalry with Gobert. Back in November, Green was suspended five games for choking Gobert and dragging him down the court. After Gobert was embarrassed by Jokic in Game 5, Green verbally dragged Gobert with ample vitriol and no mercy – comments that naturally went viral on social media. Later, before Game 6, Green loudly proclaimed that the Wolves-Nuggets series “was over,” because the Wolves no longer believed they could win.

This won’t be the last time Green embarrasses himself. But it is probably the most satisfying.

Britt Robson

Britt Robson has covered the Timberwolves since 1990 for City Pages, The Rake, SportsIllustrated.com and The Athletic. He also has written about all forms and styles of music for over 30 years.

Related