Timberwolves have no answer for Nikola Jokic in Game 5 loss to Nuggets

Jokic finished with 40 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds.

May 14, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) controls the ball as / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Just four days ago, the Timberwolves were entering Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Denver Nuggets having not lost a single game in this year’s playoffs. Now they’ve lost three straight and their backs are against the wall facing elimination.

The defending champions beat the Timberwolves 112-97 in Game 5 Tuesday night in Denver to take a 3-2 series lead. They’ll have a chance to close it out in Game 6 Thursday night in Minneapolis. 

They can thank Nikola Jokic.

It didn't matter who was guarding him. Whether it was Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns or Naz Reid, Jokic won the battle. He got the Nuggets started with 12 first-quarter points, he had an answer for every Timberwolves run and he made sure the Nuggets wouldn't lose again on their home floor.

Jokic's early efforts helped the Nuggets to a 50-44 halftime lead, but the Timberwolves came out in the third quarter firing on all cylinders. Towns had a strong bounce-back game after struggling mightily in Game 4, and he had a putback bucket and hit a 3 during an 11-3 Timberwolves run that gave them a two-point lead early in the frame. It forced the Nuggets to take a timeout and regroup.

Behind a strong effort from Jokic in the paint, Denver proceeded to go on a 23-8 run out of the timeout. If Jokic wasn't scoring, he was finding his teammates for open looks. Either way, he did plenty of scoring, pouring in 16 of his game-high 40 points in the frame.

In addition to the 40-piece, Jokic had 13 assists, seven rebounds and not a single turnover.

Despite the run that saw them take a two-point lead early in the third quarter, the Timberwolves fell behind by 14 entering the fourth with no answer for Jokic. That wasn't an insurmountable lead, but the shots just weren't falling in the fourth quarter, even wide-open looks.

Meanwhile, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a pair of 3s and Jokic got out for a transition dunk as the Nuggets took a 98-80 lead, their largest of the night, with 7 minutes, 12 seconds remaining.

That proved too much to overcome. And even when the Timberwolves did whittle down that deficit, nearly chipping it down to single digits, Jokic and the Nuggets provided a quick answer.

Defensively, the Nuggets did an excellent job defending Anthony Edwards, doubling him every time he touched the ball. They held him to 18 points on 5-for-15 shooting.

Despite appearing to tweak his knee and briefly exiting the game to ride on an exercise bike to loosen up, Towns was effective offensively with 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting. Rudy Gobert had 18 points while going a perfect 7 for 7 from the field. But that didn't matter with no answer for Jokic.

The Timberwolves did go into the game without their leader and point guard Mike Conley, who was ruled out just ahead of the game due to right Achilles tightness. Conley certainly isn't an easy person to replace as he's often the steadying force, particularly down the stretch of games.

But even if Conley had played, it might not have mattered. The Timberwolves couldn't slow Jokic, who — in perhaps a sign of things to come — was presented with his MVP trophy ahead of the game. Jokic proceeded to deliver an MVP-type performance, controlling the game from start to finish.