PHOENIX — Minnesota gave Denver one of the Nuggets’ stiffest tests in last year’s postseason.
The first-round series went just five games, but the Wolves led in the fourth quarter of Game 2, were within a possession of Denver in the final frame of Game 3 and had a chance to push Game 5 to overtime, only to have Anthony Edwards’ potential tying shot at the horn bounce off the iron.
What was most impressive about all of that is the Timberwolves did it without two important, young rotational pieces.
Jaden McDaniels, the team’s top perimeter defender, missed the postseason after breaking his hand in Game 82 by punching a concrete wall. Naz Reid broke his wrist in the 77th game of the regular season, right as Minnesota felt it was finding its rhythm as a team.
All they could do was sit and watch as Minnesota felt short against the eventual champion Nuggets.
“I don’t like missing out on it,” McDaniels said.
The duo is making up for lost time thus far in these playoffs.
Reid was one of the stars of Game 1, scoring 12 points and burying a couple key triples. McDaniels was the man for Minnesota in Game 2, scoring 25 points to go with eight rebounds while locking down Phoenix’s perimeter scoring weapons.
“He’s a person who can live up to these moments, offensively and defensively,” Reid said.
That’s something McDaniels showed in his first playoff series against Memphis in 2022. In the Game 6 loss that eliminated Minnesota, McDaniels scored 24 points on 8-for-9 shooting. Meanwhile, Reid was essentially a non-factor against Memphis. He played in the first five games of the series but logged fewer than 14 minutes in four of them.
So McDaniels was essentially robbed — by his own actions — of the chance to follow up on his playoff successes, while Reid wasn’t allowed to get his first true taste of the postseason.
Reid healed up shortly after Minnesota was eliminated, which only made last offseason all the longer.
“It was definitely tough. Obviously, a long season of ups and downs, but I think it built us for the moment that we’re in now and moments to come,” Reid said. “I think it’s something that we missed, the team missed — just our presence.”
Reid brings a certain joy and fearlessness, while McDaniels supplies an edge Minnesota otherwise lacks at times that feels like a requirement for playoff success.
“I think the team missed that last year, and presents that this year,” Reid said. “Especially (McDaniels). He had a big task of guarding all three of those (Phoenix) guys. Being able to do that on the offensive end (in Game 2), it’s amazing.”
McDaniels noted he was “antsy” to play in the first couple games this postseason.
“Just being in this environment and being in the playoffs,” he said, “it feels like a dream come true for me.”
That’s shown itself via McDaniels’ play early in this series.
“His activity’s been another level so far in two games. I think a lot of it just starts from being a big presence on the glass, just getting there, playing with a lot of force, finishing strong around the basket, being confident in his shot,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “The job he’s doing on the other end of the floor, fighting through every single screen, getting hit a bunch, I thought he had a special performance (in Game 2). Really special.”
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