Timberwolves surge past Nuggets when a simple substitution becomes a dramatic turning point

The Timberwolves were lifeless and trailing the Nuggets in the fourth quarter Friday night at Target Center when Denver guard Christian Braun dunked over Rudy Gobert and taunted him. Gobert grabbed Braun and tossed him to the side, and the teams got in each other’s faces while Gobert and Braun both earned technicals.

Amid the kerfuffle, Wolves coach Chris Finch made a substitution — he sent in Nickeil Alexander-Walker with 5 minutes, 14 seconds to play. The Wolves fell behind by 10, but then Alexander-Walker changed the energy in the arena and sparked the Wolves to a 119-116 victory over the Nuggets in the 21st meeting between the familiar foes in the past three seasons.

“Nothing was going right. He brought defense. He brought toughness. He plays hard every time he checks in the game,” said guard Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points. “... But he always does that, man. Come out, bring a lot of energy. That’s just what he do. He just happened to make shots and big-time shots. We needed it. "

After the game, Edwards walked down the hallway with cameras on him and shouted out Alexander-Walker’s name, with a few expletives spliced between syllables, to let everyone know who he thought was the MVP of the evening. Over the first five games of the season, Alexander-Walker has been one of the most consistent players for the Wolves. Coming into the season, it was unclear if the addition of Donte DiVincenzo was going to take away from Alexander-Walker’s minutes as a backup point guard. Instead, it has freed Alexander-Walker to thrive doing what he does best — hitting open shots, guarding tough while mixing in a little time at point guard, just not as much as originally expected coming into the season.

“Today was one of the first days in a while I had no nerves going into the game,” Alexander-Walker said. “I was a little worried about it because I don’t want to just come out all calm and lackadaisical. I can really feel the trust in my work and the trust that I have and my faith in God. For me, I had to stop worrying about the result.”

Since he and Finch had a chat in the preseason about that, Alexander-Walker has thrived. It got to the point where Finch was setting up plays for Alexander-Walker in the fourth quarter. The two got to know each other in New Orleans when Alexander-Walker was drafted the Pelicans and Finch was an assistant. Alexander-Walker’s smile beamed when he was asked about that after the game.

“Me and Finchy come a long way. I’ll take anything I can get. For me, it was definitely a moment, you know? Like a passing of the torch or something,” he said. “Like we transcended into another level of our relationship.”

Alexander-Walker had eight points and forced two turnovers to lead a 17-4 Wolves run that won the game. He hit a pair of three-pointers and a pair of free throws and had a pair of steals against Nikola Jokic, who produced 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds and had Denver in a position to win even after Jamal Murray left the game in the concussion protocol.

After Alexander-Walker’s flurry of activity, Edwards took over on the offensive end and Gobert on the defensive end.

Edwards hit a three-pointer and then had a runner in the lane with 25.7 seconds remaining for the winning bucket. He said he was more deliberate in the fourth quarter in this game than he might have been a year ago. He didn’t want to force shots as Denver was doubling him, which would result in a mad Finch afterward.

“You know Finchy gonna cuss [me] out anyway if I play hero ball and it don’t go the way it’s supposed to go,” Edwards said. “I ain’t wanna get cussed out tonight.”

Gobert helped seal the game with his defense. He secured a rebound before hitting a pair of free throws with 10.1 seconds to play. Then he guarded Jokic on his final three-point attempt, which didn’t come close. After the game, Gobert didn’t make much of the confrontation with Braun, saying he liked him as a player.

“He made a great play and there’s always the adrenaline. He kind of stepped toward my space and nothing really happened, but it’s part of the game,” Gobert said. “Obviously when there’s three minutes left, I love those moments. It’s winning time, and that’s why I love this game. I live for those moments.”

He didn’t let it deter him the rest of the night, with Finch calling him one of the most “mentally tough” players he’s ever been around.

“Mentally, he’s strong whether people in the media are coming at him, whether opposing teams are coming at him, whether opposing fans are coming at him,” Finch said. “He takes it as a challenge. He meets the moment. His teammates love him for that. He doesn’t back down.”

The Wolves needed some mental toughness to pull out a win Friday night, and they got it just when they had to have it.