{"id":611502,"date":"2026-04-28T15:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/611502\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:55:18","slug":"jaden-mcdaniels-had-words-for-nuggets-crowd-after-being-hated-in-game-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/611502\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaden McDaniels Had Words For Nuggets Crowd After Being \u2018Hated\u2019 in Game 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

After winning both home games to take a 3\u20131 series lead, the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> returned to Denver on Monday, where Jaden McDaniels was met with a hostile crowd at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n

McDaniels had spent much of the series trying to get under the skin of Nikola Joki\u0107 and the Denver Nuggets<\/a>, and it had largely worked. After Minnesota evened the series at 1\u20131, McDaniels went as far as calling the Nuggets a team of \u201cbad defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tensions escalated further<\/a> in Game 4, when McDaniels had a physical confrontation with Jokic after breaking an unwritten rule by scoring late in a conceded situation. While neither player was suspended, both were fined by the NBA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels reacts to being called for a foul against the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter at Target Center. Matt Blewett-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It initially seemed like McDaniels\u2019 tactics were paying off as the Timberwolves took a 3\u20131 lead. However, it backfired in Game 5, as the Timberwolves fell 125\u2013113, with chants of \u201cMcDaniels sucks\u201d echoing throughout the night. Despite the hostile environment, McDaniels remained defiant.<\/p>\n

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“I love this environment,” he said in a\u00a0post-game press conference<\/a>. “Everyone hating me, all the hate is coming towards me. I love it. I don’t care I feed into it. We just end up losing today but we’re gonna win the next one”.<\/p>\n

Although McDaniels insisted the crowd “can’t get in my head,” his performance suggested otherwise. He finished with just 13 points, three rebounds, and four turnovers as Minnesota struggled to match Denver\u2019s pace and ball movement.<\/p>\n

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The Nuggets seized control early, building a lead of as many as 27 points. Jokic led the way with a triple-double, recording 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 16 assists, along with two blocks. Jamal Murray<\/a> added 24 points, seven assists, and four steals, while Spencer Jones and Cameron Johnson were the only other Nuggets to score in double figures.<\/p>\n

Minnesota struggled with ball security, committing 25 turnovers that Denver converted into 35 points, while shooting an efficient 57% from the field.<\/p>\n

Along with McDaniels\u2019 four turnovers, Julius Randle<\/a> had five, though he also posted 27 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Naz Reid, Terrence Shannon Jr., Bones Hyland, and Ayo Dosunmu all scored in double figures, but an off night from Rudy Gobert<\/a> proved costly.<\/p>\n

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In 29 minutes, Gobert managed just three points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals, finishing with a plus-minus of -25.<\/p>\n

Minnesota now trails 3\u20132 in the series. With momentum shifting to Denver, the Timberwolves will look to respond in Game 6 at home on Wednesday and avoid a decisive Game 7.<\/p>\n

Related: Nikola Jokic Reveals Real Reason for Jaden McDaniels Confrontation in Game 4<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Apr 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After winning both home games to take a 3\u20131 series lead, the Minnesota Timberwolves returned to Denver on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[19804,253734,12327,1753,114221,1754,6424,11951,78366,355,92429,99,60524],"class_list":["post-611502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ayo-dosunmu","tag-bones-hyland","tag-cameron-johnson","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-jaden-mcdaniels","tag-jamal-murray","tag-julius-randle","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-naz-reid","tag-nba","tag-rudy-gobert","tag-sports","tag-terrence-shannon-jr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}