26 shots, 7 hits, making Jokic despair, the four-time DPOY proves his worth.

The NBA playoffs continue, with the Nuggets traveling to face the Timberwolves today, ultimately suffering a heavy defeat. They lost to the Timberwolves 96:113 on the road. In this game, both Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray performed poorly. Jokic shot 7 out of 26 overall, including 2 out of 10 from beyond the three-point line, scoring 27 points with very low efficiency. Murray managed only 5 out of 17 shots for 16 points. Actually, the tone of this game was set after halftime. The Nuggets were completely overwhelmed by the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves' victory clearly stems from Rudy Gobert's outstanding defense. Today, Gobert's dedicated task was to limit Jokic—he played whenever Jokic was on the court and rested when Jokic was off. Under Gobert's coverage, Jokic's efficiency today was very poor. Gobert possesses excellent height and reach, along with strong physical resistance. This forced Jokic to face Gobert's formidable interference on every inside attempt, making his play extremely uncomfortable. Even his three-point shots were disrupted by Gobert's presence. This game fully demonstrated the value of Gobert's four Defensive Player of the Year awards.

After today's game, Jokic praised the Timberwolves' defense generously and did not hesitate to commend Gobert's defensive efforts. Post-game, we could even sense a hint of despair from Jokic.

Today, the Timberwolves' strategy was very clear: to aggressively attack the Nuggets' interior. Because the Nuggets' perimeter defense is extremely poor, almost porous. The Timberwolves are one of the league's strongest teams in driving to the basket, easily breaking through the outer defense and finishing with simple scores inside, since Jokic at the center offers almost no rim protection.

Although the Nuggets are the strongest offensive team in the regular season, under the Timberwolves' robust defense, they collectively misfired. Moreover, the Timberwolves' approach is more steady—scoring by driving to the basket is a more reliable finishing method than shooting from outside. Thus, in these two games, the Nuggets began to realize how severe the consequences of lacking defense can be. However, the Nuggets currently struggle to adjust, as their defensive lineup is inherently weak. You cannot expect their players to suddenly become defensive stalwarts. Therefore, this series may pose significant trouble for the Nuggets.