Who knew that the Game Of The Year would come in an early April matchup between the Nuggets and Timberwolves, but here we are. That’s what we got on Tuesday night between these two teams, which makes sense considering all the Nuggets and Wolves do is play absolute thrillers. Dating back to Game 6 of their playoff series last season, every game has been electric as hell. It’s been a bit one sided, with the Wolves now winning 6 straight against the Nuggets, but I think we can all agree that as fans, we deserve this matchup for another playoff series. I don’t care if it’s the 2/7 matchup or the 3/6 matchup, just give us these two teams in a playoff setting.

Tonight’s performance came in the fashion of a 2OT thriller, with some of the greatest shotmaking you’ll ever see, a little NBA history, and perhaps one of the worst individual sequences of any player on any team in any game this entire season. There’s so much to get to you almost don’t even know where to begin. 

First, let’s shout out all the Wolves who were incredible down the stretch of this game. Ant with a massive 4th quarter, Mike Conley with huge 3s, NAW with huge 3s, Randle with multiple plays, they answered the call every time the Nuggets threw a punch

But the real story of this game was the ending. As I write this blog I’m still not even sure I’ve fully processed what happened.

For starters, Anthony Edwards has to learn how to handle a double team. It’s well beyond time he figured that out. Considering he’s going to be seeing A LOT of it in the playoffs, that’s pretty important. He does not look comfortable getting doubled, and until he figures that out it will hold him back. Turning it over in that spot off that double team is about as bad of a moment as you can have. Little did we know what was about to happen next.

I would like someone, anyone, to explain to me what Russell Westbrook could have possibly been thinking. Time and score! Let’s just say he makes the layup and the Nuggets go up 141-138. You’re only now up 3 with plenty of time, and the Wolves can advance the ball! The whole goal in that spot is to eat clock. The clock is your friend! Force the Wolves to foul you with way less time left on the clock. Hit your FTs and you’re up 3 only now they don’t have as much time to generate a good look. 

I’m also looking at Christian Braun here too. You could have pulled the ball back out during that break. Instead, he enabled Westbrook. He’s not as guilty, but there’s some blame there too. 

OK fine, you bricked the layup. All is fine if you just get the stop. So what do we see? We see Westbrook foul a 3 point shooter at the buzzer. Another braindead decision that you simply cannot make in that spot. You have to contest without fouling there. Don’t even let it be possible for something like this to happen and live with the results. Instead, Westbrook fouled to bail out the miss, and that was the game.

Not only that, but Russ also missed a FT within the last 20 seconds (as did Jokic) so Nuggets fans were really getting it from every angle down the stretch of this game. 

The worst part? It wasted a Nikola Jokic masterclass. One of the best individual performances in NBA history all for nothing. I’d be sick

This dude played every second of this game from basically midway 2nd quarter through the end of 2OT. That is fucking insane. His detractors will say his line was only that good because of all his minutes, as if that’s a negative, I look at it like Nikola Jokic basically playing an entire game without sitting is ridiculous and worthy of praise, especially when he’s making every single play down the stretch. 

That is arguably one of the most painful “Despite the loss” nights you’ll ever see. All because Russell Westbrook lost his marbles at the worst possible time (and Jokic’s missed FT with 17 seconds left. That also stung). To go from an incredible win with a historic performance to a gut wrenching loss with an all time blunder is a tough kick to the dick, and given how tight things are in the West, a pretty important result.

With the Warriors winning, this win kept the Wolves attached in the race out of the Play In, and I’m hoping they get it. The Nuggets are probably locked in at 3, which means I need the Wolves to get to the 6th seed and pass the cratering Grizzlies. Give us a 7 game series between these two in the first round, and the Wolves pulling this game out of their asses helped us get one step closer to that reality.