Short on starters, Nuggets take down Timberwolves again for 7th straight win
Two win streaks collided in the Twin Cities this weekend Something had to give In the end it was Minnesota s four-game surge that snapped The Nuggets were too much to overcome even without starters Christian Braun and Cam Johnson With a - preeminence on Saturday they ve won seven in a row including three straight on the road Denver - hosts the Chicago Bulls on Monday before hitting the road again Without Braun and Johnson In their first battle navigating what will be at least a six-week absence for Braun the Nuggets had to replace two starters not one David Adelman went with Peyton Watson and Tim Hardaway Jr and both contributed in their own strategies Hardaway reached points for the second time this season punctuated by a contested corner -pointer while falling into Minnesota s bench as Denver pulled away in the fourth quarter Watson had a fairly erratic night offensively but Denver doesn t need much from him at that end of the floor when he plays with the starters His defensive effort will determine how he fills the Braun void and it was largely up to standard in Minnesota The Nuggets started the event in their - zone defense which was effective at forcing turnovers and above-the-break s early then Watson was the primary matchup on Anthony Edwards when they played man-to-man The star guard struggled to make shots as Denver played solid squad defense against him Watson was at the head of the snake and behind him his teammates tried to show Edwards a crowd The short-handed Nuggets played Spencer Jones and Julian Strawther to patch together a nine-man rotation How they approach Braun s spot in the lineup whenever Johnson returns will be fascinating Hardaway has been stellar all season but the starting unit might call for more of a defense-first competitor against opponents with an elite guard The Aaron Gordon factor The Nuggets have tweaked how they prefer to use Gordon under Adelman He s working out of the dunker spot less often in the early part of the season He s handling the ball more and playing in a lot of three-man actions with Jokic and Jamal Murray or other combinations Adelman staggered Gordon along with Murray on the second unit and managed to win the non-Jokic minutes by a sturdy margin Gordon hit a pair of key shots during a fourth-quarter run first from the midrange off the dribble then from the -point line off the catch His defense has also been living up to his preseason promise to turn up Opponents are shooting for with Gordon defending and it s a testament to his value that Denver s coaching staff feels settled enough with him guarding Edwards to switch Gordon onto him when Watson or another primary defender gets screened Appointment viewing Christmas Day This rivalry is alive and well Even the Nuggets newcomers are embracing it After Jonas Valanciunas battled Naz Reid for a feisty offensive rebound Saturday they got in each other s faces and Reid earned a technical foul In the second half Rudy Gobert picked up a flagrant for bulldozing through a cross-screen set by Hardaway under the basket Hardaway had words for Gobert after the foul The Nuggets didn t even have time to inbound the ball for the ensuing play because Gordon and Julius Randle were grappling for positioning It wasn t much but it was enough for the nearest official to call a rare double tech trying to get a chippy match under control This was a physical messy awesomely competitive battle that should portend more popcorn entertainment on Christmas when the Wolves visit Ball Arena in prime time The two franchises are fittingly trading blows in an increasingly layered rivalry They ve both taken a playoff series from the other Minnesota swept the season series last year Now the Nuggets have already stolen both head-to-head matchups in Minneapolis this season Former coach Michael Malone used to be reluctant to label Nuggets vs Timberwolves as a rivalry But it s abundantly clear these teams don t like each other
