The Denver Nuggets will try to stay unbeaten when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Denver has won its first four games by an average score of 116-102. The Nuggets have shown no signs of a hangover on the heels of a remarkable championship season.
A major reason for Denver’s continued dominance is the play of Nikola Jokic. The Serbian big man is averaging 26.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 8.5 assists this season.
In his most recent game Monday against the Utah Jazz, Jokic posted his 107th career triple-double with 27 points, 11 assists and 10 boards. He moved into a tie with LeBron James and Jason Kidd for fourth on the all-time triple-double list.
A triple-double against Minnesota would give Jokic sole possession of fourth place. He trails Russell Westbrook (198), Oscar Robertson (181) and Magic Johnson (138).
“It’s incredible,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I’ve said this for a few years now: I challenge myself never to take Nikola for granted — his greatness every single night. I wasn’t even aware that he had a triple-double (against Utah). It speaks to his greatness. It speaks to his consistency, night in and night out, just playing the game at an extremely high level.
“I think the one thing that you compare LeBron and Nikola is their IQ and their ability to make everyone around them better. And that truly is the definition of greatness, in my opinion.”
Minnesota is off to a much bumpier start as it prepares to face Nokic and the Nuggets. The Timberwolves have dropped two of their first three games, including a 127-113 loss against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Atlanta erased a 19-point halftime deficit and left the Timberwolves vowing to do better.
Minnesota guard Mike Conley said he and his teammates were trying to do too much early in the season.
“The easy play would have won us the game,” he said. “The easy reads, not the hero plays, not the hero ball, not the hero pass, just the simple one.
“(It’s true) defensively, as well. If we just do that and concentrate on the easy stuff, I think we can withstand runs and put a run on them.”
Anthony Edwards leads the Timberwolves with 25.3 points per game to go along with 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns (15.7 points, 10.0 rebounds) and Rudy Gobert (14.3 points, 13.3 rebounds) each are averaging double-doubles.
The Nuggets could try to slow down Edwards by assigning Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to guard him. Caldwell-Pope has won the team’s “defensive player of the game chain” in all four of Denver’s games this season.
“It’s not that other guys aren’t defending well, but he’s just doing it at a very elite level right now against some great players, guys that can get going and score in bunches,” Malone said.
“Whether it’s Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) in OKC, (Jordan) Clarkson tonight, (Desmond) Bane in Memphis — no one guards anybody 1-on-1 in this league. It’s a team effort. But obviously Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is leading that charge. It’s been fun to watch him take on that responsibility every night.”
–Field Level Media
