Minnesota played a dangerous game to start the series.

“He’s going to have a game this series where he makes five or six 3s, if that’s going to be the coverage,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said Sunday.

Defending Nikola Jokic often comes down to what the opponent is willing to concede. For Chris Finch’s team, that was Jokic jumpers. The three-time Most Valuable Player’s first three shots in Saturday’s Game 1 were wide-open 3-pointers. Rudy Gobert’s closeouts were casual, at best.

“If I’m open, I’m going to shoot it,” Jokic said after Saturday’s game. “If I’m not open, I’m just going to play the game.”

The Timberwolves stuck with the strategy even after Jokic made two of his first three attempts from 3. The gamble paid off, as Jokic, who shot 38% from deep in the regular season, finished 2 of 7. He still started the postseason with a 25-point triple-double.

It was a disjointed offensive effort as a whole for Denver outside of the second quarter. The Nuggets had as many turnovers, six, as field goals made in the first quarter. Jokic was credited with three of the giveaways, but the box score doesn’t tell the whole story.

“A lot of guys stopped short, and you can’t do that in the NBA,” Adelman said.

“You make your decision. Whether that decision is the best or the worst decision, you have to do it 100%. There was three different occasions where you could say it’s his turnover, because that’s what the stat sheet says, but it’s a team turnover. …  I thought guys were overthinking. They were stopping short, trying to change the cut they had committed themselves to, and that put him in a weird rhythm. I think he started to be a little more careful with the ball, which makes sense, because we were giving them run-out dunks.”

Adelman’s team benefited from a more decisive second quarter. The Nuggets went 11 of 16 from the field, 6 of 8 from 3 and 11 of 12 on free throws to drop 39 points to make up for the sluggish start.

“Our team, in general, offensively, didn’t really have a good rhythm until probably the middle of the second. We made shots in that quarter, but we also looked like ourselves. Early (we were) very disjointed, and that’s just not us,” Adelman said.

“Hoping for a much better start tomorrow, offensively, just with the flow – not the types of shots. We got good shots, but we just didn’t look like ourselves. It’s an exercise in just commitment when you play offensive basketball in the NBA.”

The Nuggets survived a 1-for-17 mark from 3-point range after halftime. The Nuggets went cold after Aaron Gordon connected from the corner in the middle of the third quarter.

Defending Jokic the same way throughout a series is also a dangerous game. He won’t spend much time overthinking the coverage that could come his way Monday.

“When you play, I don’t think you have time to do that,” Jokic said. “When I play, I’m just reacting to what happens on the floor.”