Nuggets Fans on Denver's Stunning Series Comeback Versus Timberwolves | Westword
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Nuggets Fans on Denver's Stunning Comeback in Series Versus Timberwolves

The parade of crow eaters included Shaquille O'Neal.
May 13, 2024
Nikola Jokić ponders what it's like to have a future after the Denver Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on May 12.
Nikola Jokić ponders what it's like to have a future after the Denver Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on May 12. Denver Nuggets via YouTube
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After the Denver Nuggets looked absolutely moribund throughout a humiliating game-two loss in their playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team's hopes of repeating as NBA champions couldn't have seemed more dead if the players had each undergone an autopsy and all of their organs were in jars. But a funny thing happened on the way to the post-season cemetery: The Nugs reeled off two consecutive road wins, with a 115-107 victory on May 12 sending the unmistakable message that Nikola Jokić and company are very much alive.

Denver fans on social media celebrated by roasting premature obituary writers, with the parade of designated crow eaters led by legendary big man turned TNT commentator Shaquille O'Neal and ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, the loudest sports pundit alive.

Although he's not making much noise right now.

The sequence of events preceding the Nuggets' unexpected comeback after their putrid first pair of performances at Ball Arena began seconds after TNT announced last week that Jokić had won his third Most Valuable Player award in four years. Amid his first question to Nikola, who'd been prepped in advance and was on hand for an interview, Shaq noted that he felt the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should have received the honor before essentially asking the MVP why Denver had sucked so hard in its first two matchups versus the Wolves.

This all-too-typical example of disrespect aimed at Jokić, whose accomplishments should speak for themselves at this point, caused a firestorm on talk radio in Denver, but pretty much nowhere else. As usual.

Meanwhile, Smith and Kendrick Perkins, who picked against the Nuggets every chance he got on their march to the NBA crown last season, practically exhausted themselves digging Denver's grave while declaring the Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards to be the next incarnation of Michael Jordan. Predictions of a sweep were soon so common that it's a wonder attendees of game three in Minnesota weren't given whisk brooms on their way into the Target Center, the Wolves' main stage.

Instead, Jamal Murray, who'd narrowly avoided suspension after tossing a towel and a heating pad in the direction of an official during Denver's second suckfest of the series, somehow shook off the calf strain that has been plaguing him for weeks while leading his fellows to a 117-90 pummeling of the Minnesotans on May 10. But plenty of questions remained about whether the win was a one-off or a sign of things to come.

The answers provided last night were emphatic. Murray didn't turn in an eye-popping stat sheet; he wound up with a modest nineteen points. But he also proved that no one in pro basketball is more adept at causing opponents to slap their head when he hit a first-half buzzer beater to cap an 8-0 run in twenty seconds that gave the Nuggets a fifteen-point lead going into the break. And although Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Michael Porter Jr. were essentially no-shows on the offensive end (they contributed three points and four points, respectively), Aaron Gordon poured in 27 en route to making newly minted defensive-player-of-the-year Rudy Gobert look like a crossing guard who'd misplaced his stop sign.

And Jokić? All he did was notch 35 points, with many of them in the fourth quarter, when Edwards, who topped all scorers with 44, tried but failed to will his crew to victory.

By triumphing twice in hostile territory, the Nuggets regained home court advantage going into game five on Tuesday, May 14, back in Denver — and reports of their demise haven't aged well.

Users of X definitely noticed, as evidenced by our picks for the twenty most memorable posts about the results, with the number-one choice revealing what happened to one sad person rooting for the Wolves. Spoiler alert: It wasn't pretty.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.
Contact: Michael Roberts
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