TITLE: McDaniels Says Nuggets Lack Defensive Stoppers After Timberwolves Rally to Even Series
SLUG: mcdaniels-says-nuggets-lack-defensive-stoppers
CONTENT:
DENVER — Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels did not hold back after the Timberwolves’ 119-114 Game 2 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, labeling every Denver player a “bad defender.”
“Go after Jokic, Jamal, all the bad defenders … Tim Hardaway Jr., Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, the whole team,” McDaniels said in the post-game locker room. When asked to confirm, he added, “Yeah, they’re all bad defenders.”
Minnesota erased a 19-point deficit to knot the first-round series at 1-1. Game 3 is set for Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Anthony Edwards, playing through a sore knee, led the Timberwolves with 30 points and 10 rebounds. McDaniels contributed 14 points and three assists while stressing that Denver “doesn’t have people that can defend the rim” and that the Timberwolves remain “more athletic” than their opponents.
Nikola Jokic finished with 24 points and 15 defensive rebounds, and Jamal Murray added 30 points for Denver. The All-Star duo combined to shoot 2-for-12 in the fourth quarter, scoring four points. Murray opted for a mid-range jumper instead of a potential game-tying three in the closing seconds and missed.
“I was happy he took the two points,” Edwards said of Murray’s final shot. “If he made it, we’d have been in a free-throw situation.”
Murray acknowledged a poor shooting night. “We all could have played better,” he said. “That’s just the way the game goes sometimes. They played hard as well. I thought we had the game in our hands, but we just didn’t make enough shots.”
Source: ESPN
