Sports

Three Numbers That Stood Out From Timberwolves Blowout Win vs. Nuggets in Game 3

By Tyler Lauletta Sports Illustrated

The Timberwolves took control of their first-round series against the Nuggets on Thursday night with a dominant 113–96 win.

Just a few days removed from some harsh words from Jaden McDaniels, the Wolves backed up their tough talk with an even tougher performance on the court that leaves the Nuggets scrambling for a win in Game 4 on Saturday or risk losing control of the series entirely.

Below we take a look at three numbers that told the story of the game.

1. 34%-Denver Nuggets FG%

We've seen Nikola Jokić do so many amazing things in his years of NBA dominance that it can be easy to just think that he could be out there with any four other guys and compete for a title. But even the best players in the league have off nights, and when Jokić had his off night in Game 3, the Nuggets had no second option to fall back on.

Hilariously, an off night for Jokić still produces a stat line of 27 points and 15 rebounds, but that came on a dismal run of 7-of-26 shooting. That poor shooting line went a long way to dragging Denver's field goal percentage for the game down to 34%. Before Thursday night, the Nuggets hadn't shot below 40% in a game this season.

That is not a winning formula.

2. 20–10–3–1–1-Jaden McDaniels's stat line

Jaden McDaniels had some bold words after the Wolves' Game 2 win over the Nuggets, calling out essentially Denver's entire roster as bad defenders. It was the type of comment that you might expect an opposing team to respond to-instead, Minnesota dropped 61 points on the Nugs in the first half on Thursday night and never looked back.

While the Nuggets' struggles went far beyond just their defense, it was an impressive performance by McDaniels, who finished the night with 20, to back up his big talk with the game he had. He was all over the place on defense, and also put the exclamation point on the blowout win, with an absolutely wild dunk in the closing minutes.

Denver's players largely laughed off McDaniels's comments after Game 2, but they can't laugh off what happened on the court in Game 3.

3. Six-Wolves in double digits

The Timberwolves came in waves on Thursday night and drowned the Nuggets in a sea of double-digit scorers. Six Minnesota players reached double digits in Game 3, led by Ayo Dosunmu, who scored 25 off the bench. Jaden McDaniels (20), Anthony Edwards (17), Julius Randle (15), Donte DiVincenzo (15) and Rudy Gobert (10) all hit the mark.



The Nuggets couldn't stop the Timberwolves all night. Maybe McDaniels was on to something. Minnesota shot 48% from the field, and a few guys stuffed the stat sheet. Rudy Gobert had 12 records, three assists and three blocks, and McDaniels added 10 rebounds, three assists, one block and a steal. DiVincenzo had four rebounds, seven assists and four steals, while Dosunmu chipped in nine assists and three rebounds. All six players who cleared 10 points also had at least three rebounds and three assists apiece.



The Wolves were firing on all cylinders in Game 3, and Denver couldn't find a way to disrupt Minnesota's balance. It's going to be tough to come back in this series.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Numbers That Stood Out From Timberwolves Blowout Win vs. Nuggets in Game 3.

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 9:34 PM.

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