DENVER — Jaden McDaniels has toiled in Anthony Edwards’ shadow for his entire career. The two friends came into the league together, endured the losses of the early days together and have helped turn the Minnesota Timberwolves into contenders in the Western Conference together.
They complement each other so well. Edwards is the loud one, the spotlight sponge with the bright smile and the dynamic scoring. McDaniels is the quiet one, the one who just wants to hoop and go home, the defensive demon who takes a backseat on offense to the Wolves’ higher usage players.
Little by little, McDaniels has been stepping out into the sunlight in this playoff series against Denver, creating a stir with his mouth and his actions in a tense rubber match against their bitter rivals. In Game 5 on Monday night, McDaniels got a true glimpse of the attention Edwards gets every time he steps on the floor.
The provocateur was booed every time he touched the ball, serenaded by chants of “Jaden sucks!” and taunted by the Nuggets throughout a 125-113 loss. He has made himself the villain, a conscious decision on his part to get himself and his own team going. After missing out on a chance to eliminate the Nuggets on their home floor for the second time in three years, he had one message for the legion that lined up against him.
Bring it on.
“I love this environment, everyone hating me, all the hate’s coming toward me,” McDaniels said. “I love it. I don’t care. I feed into it. It just brings the best out of me. We just ended up losing today, but we’re going to win the next one.”
The Wolves still lead the series 3-2, with a chance to close it out at home in Game 6 on Thursday night.
As much as he insisted the rowdy atmosphere did not affect him, McDaniels still offered up his least impactful performance of the series. He picked up two fouls in the first 2:16 of the game, forcing coach Chris Finch to go to his bench much sooner than anticipated. Finch called the second whistle, an offensive foul on a drive against Cam Johnson, “ridiculous.”
“I thought Jaden had a clear line to the basket,” Finch said. “I thought Johnson comes over, and I thought that was a tough start more than anything else, I don’t think Jaden’s worried about whether they boo him when he touches the ball.”
The Wolves challenged the call, but crew chief James Capers upheld the ruling because McDaniels extended his forearm. McDaniels had to sit the rest of the first quarter. It was no coincidence that Jamal Murray had his best quarter of the game, scoring eight points on 3-for-5 shooting to help Denver take an early 10-point lead.
McDaniels finished the game with 13 points, missed all three of his 3-pointers, grabbed three rebounds and turned the ball over four times in 27 minutes. He was able to make things tough on Murray over the final three quarters, in which the Nuggets guard scored just 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting, but the Wolves were still outscored by 25 points in McDaniels’ time on the floor.
“I would say we were rushing our offense a little bit so we were making silly mistakes,” McDaniels said. “It’s on me. I gotta be better, not fouling early in the game and just taking care of the ball. Four turnovers, I usually don’t do that.”
McDaniels only had five games in the regular season in which he turned the ball over at least four times, but he was hardly the only one to blame on Monday night. The Timberwolves committed 25 turnovers, which led to 35 points for the Nuggets. Julius Randle had five, Kyle Anderson had four and Bones Hyland and Naz Reid both had three.
The Wolves averaged just 12 turnovers per game in the first four games of the series, capitalizing on Denver’s slow-footed defense. Minnesota held Denver to under 100 points in Games 3 and 4, a statistic bolstered by the lack of turnovers leading to easy buckets. The Nuggets scored 23 fast break points in Game 5, many of them coming off of ill-advised mistakes.
The Wolves turned it over nine times in the first quarter alone, allowing a nervous Ball Arena to erupt as the Nuggets got out in transition.
If it looked like the Wolves came into the game lacking urgency and attention to detail, given their 3-1 lead in the series, coaches and players said it was the exact opposite. Without Edwards, who is listed as week-to-week with a hyperextended left knee, and Donte DiVincenzo, who was lost to a torn right Achilles tendon in Game 4, the rest of the Wolves might have tried to do a little too much individually, which led to forcing the action and a rash of mistakes.
“I think we were all just trying to make plays and we got a little bit too much of that, just trying to do it on our own,” said Randle, who finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists. “We just gotta continue to make the right plays and the easy plays. I’ll take accountability for that. Five turnovers is too much.”
The absences, and a clear desperation from the Nuggets to avoid elimination, forced Denver to bring a different kind of defensive mindset to Game 5. The Wolves got whatever they wanted in the paint and at the rim in the first four games, blowing by perimeter defenders and going right at Nikola Jokić for easy buckets. But without the threats of Edwards and DiVincenzo to spread the Nuggets’ defense thin, they were able to pack the paint and get into the passing lanes, making it much harder for the Wolves to drive.
They turned it over 14 times in the first half, negating 47 percent shooting from 3 to fall behind.
“I thought we started the game wanting to make all the home run plays,” Finch said. “Instead of making all the plays that help us get into the ball game and make the rhythm plays.”
Minnesota overcame the losses of Edwards and DiVincenzo in Game 4 thanks to 43 points from Ayo Dosunmu and precise ball movement that created open shots for everyone around him. In Game 5, the Nuggets loaded up on Dosunmu, holding him to 18 points and just three rebounds. Dosunmu was a primary beneficiary of Edwards’ gravity and DiVincenzo’s hustle. Playing without them will take some getting used to.
“Sometimes simple is boring,” Dosunmu said. “But simplicity is what wins your games, gets the job done. So we have to just do a better job of that.”
The Nuggets also finally started to stand up for themselves against McDaniels, who called them out by name after Game 2 and rubbed their noses in a win in Game 4. Jonas Valančiūnas jawed at him in the third quarter. Christian Braun pointed directly at him after throwing down a dunk in his face, earning a technical for taunting.
They showed the spirit they needed to show after McDaniels insulted them and then outplayed them. He has been one of Minnesota’s best players in these playoffs, and no one was worried about this ability bounce back.
“It’s cool. I like it,” McDaniels said. “You see I’m probably shaking my head the whole time they’re booing me. I’m laughing, so they can’t get in my head. I already expect it to come.”
The last thing his teammates were worried about coming out of a disappointing performance was McDaniels’ ability to put a tough game behind him.
“I was sitting next to him a lot and I said, ‘Man, as much hate as you’re getting tonight, it’s going to be about 100 times more love for you when we go back to Minnesota. So just know that,’” Mike Conley said. “He’s a good kid, man, and he really just does whatever it takes to win. He’s got a great mindset on him. I know he’s going to be ready to go.”
Deep down inside, McDaniels had to appreciate the vitriol he received from all corners on Monday night. You give and you get. If anything, it will probably only push him to respond in kind when the Nuggets are back in his house on Thursday. Because one thing is certain when it comes to McDaniels’ pettiness and competitive spirit.
There is plenty more where that comes from.