Game 83 – Five Years Later

The Nugget’s haven’t played a meaningful basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in almost exactly five years. The now infamous ‘Game 82’ was the regular-season finale of the 2017-2018 season in which the Timberwolves handed the Nuggets a 6-point overtime loss that would keep the Nuggets out of the post-season for the fifth consecutive season, the second longest stretch without a playoff appearance in franchise history.

The Wolves would go on to play and lose to the Houston Rockets in a 5-game series that wasn’t particularly competitive. Most sane Nuggets fans would likely agree that, had Jokic made his jump-shot with 2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and sent the Wolves home instead, the Nugget’s fate would have been mostly the same. However, this loss punctuated a particularly disappointing stretch for the Nuggets organization. The team had made it out of the first round only once in the previous 24 seasons and despite putting together their first winning season since firing George Karl, they had fallen short once again.

This game reverberates in the head of many Nuggets fans as the start of the Jokic era as we know it. The Nuggets would go on to make the playoffs each and every year since ‘Game 82’ with Jokic leading the team in win-shares (as well as nearly every other measurable statistic) and earning himself back-to-back MVP Awards.

The Timberwolves would go on to miss the playoffs for three consecutive years, cycle through 3 different coaches, and undergo a major organizational shakeup.

In many ways, the last time these two teams played meaningful basketball, they were on completely opposite paths. The Nuggets were on the up-and-up thanks to a magnificent second round draft pick by then GM Tim Connelly and the Wolves proved to be at the pinnacle of their current iteration, despite having recently picked up an all-star talent in Karl-Anthony Towns.

Neither team could have predicted, as they walked off the court on April 11^th, how closely intertwined the two organizations would prove to be over the next few years.

Let’s start by taking a look at the Nuggets roster from that night. They were coached by Michael Malone, who’s continued employment in Denver very-likely rests on their ability to take care of business in this year’s first round matchup. Will Barton and Gary Harris suited up for the Nuggets that night and combined for 34 points. These two long-time Nuggets would be dealt to acquire the likes of Aaron Gordon and KCP, who will take the court as starters tonight. Jamal Murray and Jokic played in that game, with Jokic leading all scorers. Hell, Richard Jefferson, the noted anti-Jokic propaganda machine, was sitting on the bench wearing a Nugget’s jersey that evening.  

On the Wolves side, the only remaining remnant of the 2017-18 roster that will suit up tonight is Karl-Anthony Towns, who strung together an efficient 26-point double-double that Wednesday afternoon on his way to a playoff berth.

Over the course of the years to follow, the Timberwolves and Nuggets would share experiences with various players, coaches, and GM’s. Malik Beasley would move from Denver to Minnesota, as would Juancho Hernangomez, and Jarred Vanderbilt. In the same trade, Noah Vonleh, Keita Bates-Diop, Shabazz Napier, and Gerald Green would all head to Denver, although none of them ever made much of a splash in the mile-high. Last season, Austin Rivers packed up his things in Denver and headed north to the Target Center. When Ryan Saunders was fired as the Minnesota head coach in 2021, he joined Michael Malone’s staff as an assistant. Most notably, however, in May of 2022, Tim Connelly left his post as the GM of the Denver Nuggets and was hired by the Wolves as the president of basketball operations. The very man who was responsible for drafting Nikola Jokic and bringing life to the Denver basketball scene will be sitting across the proverbial table from the Serbian superstar this afternoon.

Connelly wasted no time upon arriving in Minnesota and put together a legendarily massive trade package to acquire a familiar Nugget’s foe for the Wolves, Rudy Gobert. The rabbit hole goes deeper still, when we note that Rudy was originally drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2017 and then traded to the Jazz by none other than Tim Connelly.

So, to clear things up, the Nuggets will take the court in Denver tonight with Minnesota’s ex-head coach as their assistant coach, and face off against their long-time GM, who was responsible for drafting both Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert, trading Gobert away, and then selling the farm to get him to Minnesota. When tipoff comes, the remaining 2 Nuggets from ‘Game 82’ will be staring down the one remaining ‘Game 82’ veteran on the Minnesota side (as well as Mike Conley who famously just missed the game winning shot in the Game 7 finale of the famous bubble series between the Nuggets and the Jazz).

The stakes may have seemed high to the Nuggets on that fateful night in 2018, but they pale in comparison to what is at stake tonight, and in the days to come. The Nuggets need to win this series to justify their rightful ownership of the #1 seed in the west. Jokic needs to win this series to validate to the masses that his MVPs were not handed over in vain. Michael Malone needs to win this series to prove that he is the rightful leader that can lead this squad to a championship. The Nugget’s window for winning a championship is wide open, but first they need to take care of some unfinished business.  

(Photo by: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports)