Nikola Jokic sprinted from half-court to confront Jaden McDaniels on Saturday night, and the resulting shoving match sent both him and Julius Randle to the locker room with ejections as the Minnesota Timberwolves finished off a 112-96 playoff victory over Denver.
The spark was McDaniels's decision to take a layup with 2.1 seconds remaining when the game was already decided. Rather than letting the clock run out, as protocol dictates, he scored anyway, a move Jokic took as disrespectful. "I don't regret it," Jokic said afterward. "Because he scored after everybody stopped playing."
McDaniels, for his part, brushed off the moment. "I don't know what Jokic said, to be honest. I just seen someone who was big as hell," he said of confronting the 6-foot-11, 284-pound center.
Denver coach David Adelman made his disapproval clear. "I didn't like what McDaniels did. The game was over. The game was conceded. In 2026, that stuff just doesn't happen anymore. That's something that happens in the '80s, where teams would continue to score. But that's who he is," he said.
The layup capped a performance by Ayo Dosunmu that overshadowed the confrontation. The guard, acquired by Minnesota from Chicago in February, scored 43 points off the bench, making 13 of 17 shots and going 5 for 5 from three-point range while playing a season-high 42 minutes. It marked the highest-scoring playoff performance by a reserve in 50 years, topping Fred Brown's 45 points for Seattle in 1976.
"Ayo was just out of this world, man," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "Just play after play after play."
Dosunmu's heroics came because Minnesota lost key players to injury. Anthony Edwards, the team's leading scorer and a four-time All-Star, departed in the second quarter after landing awkwardly on his knee. Donte DiVincenzo exited even earlier after a non-contact play that early reports suggested ruptured his Achilles tendon.
Despite those absences, the Timberwolves pushed ahead 3-1 in the series and can close it out Monday in Denver. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 30 points, while Jokic added 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. Denver struggled from distance, connecting on just 6 of 27 three-point attempts.
"I expect us to have a great effort in Game 5," Adelman said. "I really trust our two best players will find a rhythm, and they have to find that at home."
Elsewhere in Saturday's playoff action, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff-career-high 42 points to lead Oklahoma City past Phoenix, going 15 for 18 from the floor with eight assists to give the Thunder a commanding 3-0 series lead. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded his first career playoff triple-double with 20 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as New York evened its series with Atlanta at 2-2. The Detroit Pistons fell behind 2-1 to Orlando after the Magic's Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane each scored 25 points in a 113-105 victory.
Author James Rodriguez: "McDaniels's petulant layup will overshadow what should be remembered as one of the most spectacular reserve performances in playoff history."
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