Minnesota Timberwolves: Takeaways from win over Denver Nuggets

Towns stays focused vs. Jokic in Timberwolves win

This was perhaps Towns’ most controlled offensive game of the season. He’s been known to get into it with bigs such as Jokic who can challenge him, and these two have gotten a bit testy with each other before.

But even as Jokic was, frankly, torching the Wolves, Towns never let his emotions get the best of him. He didn’t start throwing his elbows around in the post or tossing ill-conceived passes. The closest things to the “stray voltage,” as Finch has described, were offensive fouls on a roll to the basket and a perceived kick on a spot-up shot, both of which were honestly questionable.

Towns started the game by assisting on some 3-pointers, ventured inside to get his scoring going before draining a few threes once he had his rhythm. He ended with 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting.

Finch said he thought Towns did a good job of playing patient while taking advantage of his opportunities.

“He’s just a joy to have. He’s a luxury to have offensively,” Finch said in answer to a question about Towns’ milestone. “I don’t know how many more milestones, but hopefully there will be a lot and they’ll be backed up by a lot more winning.”

Towns only had four rebounds, but he made a defensive impact with three steals. He also did well to pick his spots when defending Jokic, contesting when he had good position and avoiding fouls.

On the whole, this looked like the absolute best version of Towns. He took what the defense gave him, made his teammates better and stayed in the game mentally.