DENVER – The Timberwolves might think they match up well against the Nuggets in a playoff series, and Denver might not be quite as deep a team as it was a year ago when it won the NBA championship.
But in the biggest game of the regular season, a game likely to determine the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Nuggets reminded the Wolves that they still are the defending champs — and that they have the best player in the league.
Nikola Jokic was unstoppable on his way to 41 points Wednesday night as the two-time league MVP led the Nuggets to a 116-107 victory over the Wolves to put Denver in the driver’s seat to gain the No. 1 seed. Denver can now clinch the top seed by winning its last two games against two bottom-dwellers, San Antonio and Memphis. The Wolves are tied for the No. 2 seed with the Oklahoma City Thunder but hold the tiebreaker over them.
“We knew what this game was gonna determine,” Wolves guard Anthony Edwards said. “So if we won it, we knew we was possibly be the No. 1 seed. If we lost it, we knew they was possibly gonna be.
“So at this point, I think we cared before, but now that we lost we can’t do nothing about it.”
Jokic shot 16-for-20 from the field and had 11 rebounds and seven assists. Jamal Murray added 20 points for Denver after missing the teams’ previous matchup. Edwards led the Wolves with 25 points, while Mike Conley added 19.
The Wolves’ fourth-quarter offense dried up as Denver opened up a 16-point lead that caused coach Chris Finch to pull his starters with 2 minutes, 44 seconds to play. Outside of garbage time, the Wolves were 6-for-18 from the field in the fourth. Edwards took just three shots and missed them all as Denver sent two defenders his way most of the quarter.