What happened to Minnesota's defense??

Where did that dominant, top-ranked defense go for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the playoffs against Denver? This detailed film breakdown & scouting report explores how the Nuggets have adjusted behind Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray and Coach Michael Malone to solve the Timberwolves defense during the 2024 NBA playoffs.

Twitter: @elgee35

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Stats courtesy:
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.

Music by csus (instrumental)

#ThinkingBasketball

[smuczc]

I’m happy for Aaron Gordon. His value is unleashed with the nuggets

[Crundmama]

That third quarter from Jokic deserves a video all by itself. Sheer perfection.

[josephharden]

Getting Aaron Gordon to bring the ball up makes him much more involved in the game (he was lost in the previous games)and it takes away the pressure from the guards... Brilliant move by the coach

[wyotriumphrider]

3 Things: 1) Jokic 2) Bigs bringing the ball up instead of Murray 3) Clearing a side to give Murray space

[Dexx]

Game 5 was like watching one of the Jokic Highlights videos. He had all the greatest hits in this one game. Full court pass, behind the back, step back 3, Dunks, no look passes, spin moves, bending magical passes around defenders to Gordon for the dunk. Literally the only thing he was missing was a triple double. Combine Dirk, Duncan, Magic, and fk'n Bird into one player and you get the Joker. It's just not a fair fight.

[JoshMalek]

Nikola "if someone come to me i pass, if no one come to me i score" Jokic

[NedWellingtonNW]

credit to christain braun too hes also been taking off the load helping joker and gordon initiate offense

[jgray]

I think it's gotten a little lost how good Aaron Gordon has been for the Nuggets. He does a decent budget Jokic impression now, handling the ball and orchestrating the offense when Jokic is resting. He never really had an identity in Orlando, rotating between athletic dunk monster, isolation scorer, and modern stretch 4. He was only really good at the dunk monster role when he got traded to Denver, where he immediately became their best post defender while doing a little light dunking on offense, but not much else. Now he's their small ball 5, second-string Jokic, ball handler, and more, without losing his strong defense or exceptional inside finishing. Malone has asked him to do a lot of different things in Denver and Gordon has really improved his game to the point that he's pretty legit at all of them now.

[samareno]

People questioning Gobert DPOY. That dude is a monster defender it just happens he is against the monster offensive player.

[yunan]

That shoulder fake over the top of the back board shot got to be the most iconic shot. Against a 4x defensive player of the year, no chicken wing elbow trick, over the long arms of Gobert. Cleanest and most difficult shot Jokic ever did. That's just something no one else in the current NBA can do, or even for past few decades

[jcsplolonger]

People discrediting Gobert's Defense is like discrediting Jokic's greatness, Dude's insane in Help Defense, but Jokic's light years ahead of everyone.

[wp]

THINKING BASKETBALL is the reason why we ALL suffer in NORTH KOREA DEFENSE (HEDGE THE SCREEN!!) vs. AWFUL COACHING | GAME 4

[josephmatthews]

Ive been begging for someone with a brain to talk about this and you answered my prayers!

[psyco]

I can't wait for the follow up video "What happened to Denver's offense??" and with a big picture of Rudy with a 4th DPOY written next to him ;)

[FahadYasin]

Joker doing what he did last night to Rudy to ANYBODY

[obi]

It’s funny how Aaron Gordon simply bringing the ball up the court created a massive mismatch issue.

[lylaeloise]

May want to make another video because the MN defense is back

This series is insane. When we think a team is out, they punch back again.

[noahwelch]

Personally, in my opinion, Rudy Gobert is one the best off-ball rim protectors I have ever seen. And in a 82 game regular season, that is so incredibly valuable (hence why advanced analytics love him and why he won DPOY 4 times).

However from watching every Wolves game this year, Rudy’s biggest weakness is iso defense against big strong physical centers like Jokic, Sabonis, Zion, Davis, etc.

[benc]

We’re absolutely gonna need that “what happened to the dynasty?!” video soon 😅

[thedarkfrost]

Aaron Gordon has been so amazing for Denver. One of the best role players ever w his role there imo