The Minnesota Timberwolves got the better of the Denver Nuggets in a barnburner on Friday night. The Timberwolves closed the game on a 10-0 run to pick up a 119-116 win in a game where they buckled down on defense and found the necessary buckets when they became available.
For center Rudy Gobert, the night didn’t go completely as planned, even in the win. Late in the fourth quarter, Nuggets guard Christian Braun dunked all over Gobert and let him hear it afterwards, walking him down and yelling in his face on the baseline. Gobert wasn’t a fan of this, as he shoved Braun’s head to get him out of his face.
After the game, however, Gobert was a little bit more level-headed. He complimented Braun despite not liking how he handled the play, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
“Rudy went out of his way to say how highly he thinks of Braun,” Krawczynski reported on X, formerly Twitter. “‘He’s a good kid.’ Likes his competitive fire. Just thought he went too far to get in his face like that.”
Gobert got the last laugh in the end and had a phenomenal game in the win, finishing with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Timberwolves starting to gel with new-look roster
The Minnesota Timberwolves are starting to come together after a sloppy few games at the start of this season. Of course, that is to be expected after the team offloaded Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
Friday night’s win against the Nuggets was full of good signs for Minnesota. Randle was involved without hijacking the offense, and he was efficient in this one as well. For the game, Randle scored 23 points on 8-for-13 with six rebounds and seven assists. DiVincenzo had a quiet night in the scoring column, but he added eight rebounds and six assists of his own.
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When you get contributions like that from Randle along with a very good night from Anthony Edwards and a great two-way performance from Rudy Gobert, this Timberwolves team is going to be tough to beat. Even on a night like tonight where the Nuggets got big games from Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., the Timberwolves still have enough firepower to come out on top.
The issues that have plagued Chris Finch and the Wolves this season still popped up in this one: transition defense and rebounding, especially on the defensive glass. The Nuggets scored 22 points on the fast break in this one and they grabbed 17 offensive rebounds on the way to a 46-38 advantage in the rebounding column.
If the Timberwolves want to contend with the true contenders in the Western Conference, such as the Oklahoma City Thunder, they will have to get these issues fixed over the course of the season. Despite that, it’s a very good sign that both Randle and DiVincenzo are both looking more comfortable with the team already.