Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels made his thoughts known after putting up a playoff career high to put away the Denver Nuggets in six games on Thursday night.
McDaniels shot 13-25 for 32 points, and he made it a double-double with 10 rebounds in addition to three assists, two steals and a block. As a player who prides himself on defense, McDaniels addressed his previous “bad defenders” blunt take on the Nuggets after a 110-98 win at the Target Center in Game 6.
“Nah, I just didn’t care. I said what I said, I’m not gonna say it again, but I just don’t care. Like, this is just how I am,” McDaniels told reporters afterward.
McDaniels made his first comments after Game 2, when the Wolves tied the series 1-1 in Denver with a 119-114 victory. The Wolves scored at least 110 points in every game for the rest of the series.
“Go after [Nikola] Jokic, Jamal [Murray] … all of them bad defenders … Tim Hardaway, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon … the whole team,” McDaniels told reporters following Game 2. “They’re all bad defenders.”
“They don’t got people who can defend the rim, and if he [Gordon] is there, we still more athletic than them and just gotta be able to finish when we do,” McDaniels added.
Wolves Knew Right Buttons to Push Against Nuggets
Minnesota shot 47% from the field and 35.5% from three-point range for the series. The Wolves outscored the Nuggets 112.4-109.4 per game and out-rebounded Denver 46.6-39.4 per game.
Minnesota also had three different leading scorers in win during the series, and three of those wins occurred without star guard Anthony Edwards leading the offense. The Wolves won two of the final three games without Edwards and guard Donte DiVincenzo due to injuries in Game 4.
“Sometimes you go to know when to attack the right moments — if it’s your time to shoot or pass. But either way, if you just break a paint, you’re gonna have a shot, or someone else is going to be open,” McDaniels said in his post Game 2 comments on attacking the Nuggets defense.
Jaden McDaniels Details Approach to Success
McDaniels, who has been with the Wolves his whole career since 2020, broke down his approach that led to his success, particularly his career night to push the Wolves past Denver.
“Stay working like when no one’s watching and just always being ready for opportunity, just knowing the season long, stuff’s gonna happen,” McDaniels told reporters after Game 4. “And really for both of us, just knowing that any point they can call our number and need us to score or do whatever, I feel like, we always work and we’re always in the gym. So I mean, it’s just a credit to the work we put in.”
Minnesota will face the No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs next in the Western Conference semifinals. Game 1 will tip off on May 4. The Wolves had a 2-1 record against the Spurs in the regular season.
“… just ready to go play the next round,” McDaniels said in a Wolves social media video as he walked the Target Center halls afterward.
Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels Gets Brutally Honest on Nuggets