Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray did their special thing on Monday as the three-time MVP recorded a third-straight triple-double and his sidekick lit up for 43 points in the Denver Nuggets’ 127-114 win to snap the Minnesota Timberwolves’ dominant streak.
The Wolves had beaten the Nuggets six straight times, with a blowout win in Game 6 of the 2024 playoffs, followed by a historic Game 7 comeback, and then a sweep of Denver during the 2024-25 regular season. Among those four games were two blowout wins for the T-Wolves and two double-digit fourth-quarter leads blown, including maybe the most painful loss of the year, coming in double overtime and leading directly to the firing of Michael Malone.
A summer of change and a little bit of injury luck on the evening meant the Nuggets had reloaded, and the Wolves were without their star Anthony Edwards. Still, the two teams traded leads until Murray poured in 23 points in the third quarter as part of the team’s 45-29 period, which pushed the Nuggets ahead for good. The team closed strong enough in the fourth quarter to get their starters out before the buzzer for the second straight win.
It was the third consecutive game to start the season that the Nuggets scored over 127, becoming the second team in NBA history (1962 Warriors) to do so. It’s a hint at David Adleman’s offensive mastery, which was on display as an assistant the last several years in helping Jokic to his MVPs.
“We have a different option, different lineups,” Jokic told Carmelo Anthony on Peacock’s postgame. “We respect each other, and if somebody has it going, we get them the ball. We have so much action and movement, we have so many weapons, and we are using all of them as we get used to them.”
Jokic tallied 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting, 19 rebounds and 10 assists with two steals. He joined Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history with triple-doubles in each of a player’s first three games of a season.
But it was Murray who stole the show, hitting on 16 of his 29 shots, including five triples, for his 13th 40-point game os his career.
“He came ready to training camp, and he’s healthy,” Jokic said of Murray. “He’s in shape. It’s a product of the good work he did this summer, and we know what he can do when he’s shooting the ball. He was really good for us, the reason why we won the game.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. was a team-best plus-25 off the bench, scoring 20 on seven makes in his best game yet as a Nugget. And he needed to step up, too. Cameron Johnson left the game early with a shoulder injury that he looked like he fought through before heading to the bench.
“I think my teammates did a good job of screening me, getting me open,” Murray said on Peacock. “They were making shots in the 2nd half, which helped. I didn’t really change anything, just started to shoot more and saw it fall.”
The Nuggets would still like to get their supporting cast of Johnson and Christian Braun more involved; each failed to crack double digits again. Aaron Gordon had a quieter night on offense, but was more focused on defense, given the Wolves’ size, meaning their threats really come from the frontcourt.
But no matter how, the Nuggets snapped the streak, and that’s really what mattered most on this October night.
“It means a lot (to beat them.) It’s still early,” Murray said. “They’re not going to take this too hard as well. We’re just going to move on to the next one and try to maintain the same energy; there’s a lot to build on.
What’s next for the Nuggets
The Pelicans will travel to Denver on Wednesday, then the Nuggets tip off their NBA Cup event on Friday. The Nuggets next face the Wolves on Nov. 15, and that too could be without Edwards, who is expected to miss a few weeks.
