Ranking the 10 best games of the Timberwolves regular season
By James Siems
4. November 1 – vs. Denver Nuggets (110-89)
Top Performance(s):
Anthony Edwards – 24 points
While the “Troy Brown Jr.” game against the Thunder was a confidence booster, this win against the Nuggets was a much needed “proof of concept” for the 2023-24 Timberwolves just four games into the season.
After an ugly loss to the Toronto Raptors in the season opener and a blown lead to the Atlanta Hawks just two games later, it seemed that this year’s Timberwolves might be no different from the Timberwolves of 2022-23. Fans fearing this were calling for big decisions to be made—sooner rather than later.
However, in game four, facing the undefeated Nuggets, who had knocked them out of the playoffs the previous year, the Timberwolves picked up their first signature win of the season. Nobody dominated individually, but the Wolves stymied the healthy Nuggets squad with lockdown defense and led virtually the whole game.
They held two-time MVP Nikola Jokic to 25 points with five turnovers and both McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker made life miserable for Denver guard Murray out on the perimeter. This game illustrated the Timberwolves' blueprint for success throughout the rest of the season and showed fans that they shouldn’t be jumping on the ESPN trade machine just yet.