Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels called several Denver Nuggets players bad defenders after his team's 119-114 playoff win on Monday. Nuggets coach David Adelman dismissed the comments with sarcasm during Wednesday's practice. Players like Cam Johnson and Christian Braun downplayed the remarks as typical rivalry talk.
Jaden McDaniels targeted Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, Tim Hardaway Jr., Cam Johnson and Aaron Gordon specifically, saying the Wolves' offensive key was to attack their 'bad' defense. The comments came after Minnesota evened the first-round playoff series at 1-1 with the victory over Denver. McDaniels, known as a strong defender himself, provided bulletin-board material for the Nuggets heading into Game 3. Denver coach David Adelman responded dryly to reporters. 'I can't wait for his podcast,' he said. On bulletin-board motivation, Adelman noted society's laziness in discussing defense and highlighted Denver's playoff defensive rating of 109.6 through two games, the sixth-best mark. 'He's a really good player. Everybody has a sounding board nowadays. It'll help his social media,' Adelman added. Cam Johnson acknowledged the words could motivate but refused to engage. 'They've just been saying a lot. All season, all series. So let 'em talk,' he said. Christian Braun echoed that view, stating teams shouldn't need extra fire in the playoffs and viewing it as part of the rivalry. The Nuggets ranked 21st in regular-season defense, partly due to injuries like Aaron Gordon's limited 36 games played. In Game 2, Denver struggled against Minnesota's small lineups, allowing 142.2 points per 100 possessions without Rudy Gobert on the floor.
