Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:<\/p>\n
NBA Insider<\/p>\n
What started behind closed doors in San Diego is now on display for all a national audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe physicality was there, man. \u2026 We know what Spence is,\u201d Nuggets coach David Adelman said on the University of California San Diego basketball court Sept. 30, after an eventful first day of training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what he brings. He\u2019s extremely physical. He\u2019s a guy that fits today\u2019s NBA. I think if he stays with it, he\u2019ll get an opportunity because \u2026 his type of game is going to translate in the league now. He can make an open shot, and he can really guard, honestly, sometimes five positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those turned out to be prophetic words. Back in San Diego, Spencer Jones \u2013 who made 4 of 5 3-pointers and recorded three steals and a trio of blocks while serving as the primary defender on Julius Randle in Denver\u2019s Game 5 win Monday \u2013 wasn\u2019t eligible to be a playoff participant, a stipulation of his two-way contract. The Nuggets started the season with an open roster spot that served as motivation for the second-year forward out of Stanford.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal was to get a standard contract,\u201d Jones said after making a two-way impact with his team facing elimination. \u201cThen, you have the standard contract. The next goal was, yes, let\u2019s try to get in the playoff rotation now that you have that availability. That was something in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
While his physicality might\u2019ve been a bit much for training camp \u2013 Jones knocked out one of Julian Strawther\u2019s teeth on the first play of a scrimmage Day 1 \u2013 and parts of the regular season \u2013 fouling out in 19 minutes against the Magic in December and 23 minutes against the Pelicans in January \u2013 it\u2019s just right for the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kind of excited to play in the playoffs, because it feeds more to my game, less ticky-tack fouls. I can be more aggressive,\u201d Jones said. \u201cYou saw that with me and Randle battling all night. They let go of a lot more physicality. I love that aspect. That\u2019s why I really wanted to play in the playoffs \u2013 to get the refs off my back just a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Injuries to the other forwards in Denver\u2019s opening-night rotation \u2013 Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson and Peyton Watson \u2013 provided Jones a spot in the rotation starting in November. A 28-point performance in a starting role against Dallas on Dec. 1 opened some eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome guys want opportunities. Other guys take them and run with them,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cHe\u2019s done that the whole season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones had hit the 50-game threshold of his two-way contract in February, forcing the Nuggets to make a decision. The roster spot remained open, but signing Jones would\u2019ve come with some financial penalties. Denver traded Hunter Tyson and a draft pick to Brooklyn to solve that issue. Jones signed his standard contract Feb. 19.<\/p>\n
The role fluctuated over the remainder of the regular season, but Aaron Gordon\u2019s calf flared up in Denver\u2019s Game 2 loss to the Timberwolves. Jones got the start in Game 3 and finished with six points in 28 minutes. Gordon tried to return in Game 4 but wasn\u2019t himself, so Jones got some extra minutes but went scoreless in 25 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, I think his impact was really big,\u201d Nikola Jokic said of Jones\u2019 performance in Game 4 before moving onto Game 5. \u201cToday he made 20 points. That\u2019s huge. He made some big 3s. \u2026 Defensively he was aggressive and making guys question their next move. He was really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nuggets are operating like Gordon or Watson won\u2019t be back for Thursday\u2019s Game 6, another must-win for the Nuggets, in Minneapolis. If that\u2019s the case, expect Jones to start thanks to the reputation he earned back in training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was hacking the whole time, and they weren\u2019t calling no damn fouls. He was guarding me full court,\u201d Bruce Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been super physical since Day 1, trying to find his niche. I think he\u2019s found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Denver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042826-dg-s-nuggets-02-1024x755.jpg\")
Denver Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) congratulates Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones (21) on another 3-pointer in the third quarter of game 5 against the Timberwolves in round 1 of the NBA playoffs at Ball Arena on Monday, April 27, 2026. (The Gazette, Jerilee Bennett)<\/p>\n
What I\u2019m Thinking<\/p>\n
Tyus Jones and Jonas Valanciunas might be handcuffed together for the remainder of the series.<\/p>\n
Denver\u2019s coach made a rotation change Monday, inserting his veteran point guard and center into the second unit together alongside Jamal Murray, who continued to be hounded by Jaden McDaniels when the Timberwolves wing wasn\u2019t in foul trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this series with the pressure, (Jones) allowed Jamal to get off the ball a little bit more. We felt like because Tyus was playing, I really felt he needed a roller,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cI think when Jonas rolls with Tyus \u2013 they\u2019ve played together in the past \u2013 it just opens things up for other people, allows Jamal to play off the ball a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Jones provides the steady ball-handling that\u2019s of increased importance against a Timberwolves team that built a 3-1 lead on keeping Denver\u2019s offense well below its typical efficiency and creating easy offense off turnovers, Valanciunas provides the muscle Denver has lacked at other times.<\/p>\n
Valanciunas set the tone too loudly in his first couple of minutes. He was called for a couple of offensive fouls in his first minute on the court but made up for it with three consecutive buckets. The production ebbed and flowed, but the muscle didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my job. I\u2019ve got to set a tone, be physical. Sometimes you take offensive fouls, defensive fouls. It is what it is,\u201d Valanciunas said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played our game, and we dictated the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones and Valanciunas were teammates for a couple of seasons in Memphis. With Minnesota shorthanded, keeping the bench minutes as safe and sturdy as possible is a reasonable route to two more wins and a fourth-straight trip to the second round.<\/p>\n
\u201cTyus was Tyus \u2013 nothing spectacular, just clean. Just played clean basketball,\u201d Adelman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJonas was really good screening, cleaning people up. A couple of positives there from guys that have stayed ready and been professional.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Denver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042826-dg-s-nuggets-08-1024x666.jpg\")
Denver Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas (17) has a few words for Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of round 1 of the NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena on Monday, April 27, 2026. (The Gazette, Jerjilee Bennett)<\/p>\n
What They\u2019re Saying<\/p>\n
The Nuggets coach made sure to clarify his comments after Game 4 when he said \u201cThat\u2019s who he is,\u201d after Jaden McDaniels scored a meaningless layup in the final seconds. McDaniels also tried to dunk in the final seconds of Minnesota\u2019s Game 7 win in Denver back in 2024, though Kentavious Caldwell-Pope prevented it with a foul.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s done that in the past. When I said that, I meant that there\u2019s a history of that,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cThat\u2019s his decision. We didn\u2019t enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikola Jokic didn\u2019t have much to say after the Denver Gazette asked him about the sequence in the final minute where he handed the ball to Joan Beringer and tried to wrestle it back, leading to a jump ball with Denver up 12 and 20 seconds to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext question,\u201d Jokic said.<\/p>\n
![\"Denver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042826-dg-s-nuggets-14774-730x1024.jpg\")
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) dunks the ball in Game 5 against the Timberwolves at Ball Arena on Monday, April 28, 2026. The Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves 125-113. (The Gazette, Jerilee Bennett)<\/p>\n
What I\u2019m Following<\/p>\n
Cooper Flagg\u2019s late-season surge was enough to pass Kon Knueppel, a former teammate at Duke, in a tight race to win Rookie of the Year. Flagg received 56 first-place votes to Knueppel\u2019s 44. The Mavericks forward had 412 total points to the Charlotte guard\u2019s 386.<\/p>\n
Boston\u2019s Brad Stevens won the Executive of the Year award by earning 69 total points. Josh Kroenke, representing Denver, received a second- and third-place vote to finish 10th. Unlike most of the other awards, this one is voted on by the league\u2019s general managers.<\/p>\n
The NBA sent a new anti-tanking proposal to teams, according to an ESPN report. The \u201c3-2-1\u201d proposal would expand the lottery to 16 teams with the teams finishing 4-10 getting three balls in lottery, limit the three worst teams to two lottery entries with some teams just outside the playoffs receiving one. Teams would no longer be eligible to receive the No. 1 pick in consecutive seasons or draft in the top five in three straight drafts.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City became the first team to advance to the second round by sweeping the Suns with a 131-122 win Monday in Phoenix. It\u2019s the third straight season Oklahoma City swept its first-round series.<\/p>\n
Former NBA guard Damon Jones became the first person to plead guilty in a wide-ranging federal investigation into a gambling ring. Jones pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Jones was arrested alongside Denver native Chauncey Billups, who was coaching the Trail Blazers, and Heat guard Terry Rozier in October.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
<\/p>\n