Jaden McDaniels has turned himself into the villain of this series.
Between calling out the Denver Nuggets' starting lineup by name and saying how they can't defend, to provoking Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and David Adelman in different parts of the series, he might be taking Anthony Edwards' zero filter throne.
On the court, he's been good for the most part as well. However, there are two parts of his game that he's struggled with to this point. If the Minnesota Timberwolves are to get past Denver, they'll need him to turn these aspects of his game around.
Otherwise, they could be in danger of blowing the infamous 3-1 lead (although injuries have tons to do with that).
McDaniels' 3-point shooting has been abysmal this series
Overall, in the series, McDaniels has played pretty well. He's averaging 15 points per game on a respectable 48.4 percent shooting, and he's held Jamal Murray to shooting 34.1 percent from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range.
The one thing that just hasn't fallen into place is his 3-point shot. After shooting 41.2 percent from three during the regular season, he's only managed to make one of his 14 tries in the postseason.
His spacing is crucial for the Wolves, especially from the corner. Without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo's spacing, the Wolves are running enough non-shooters as it is.
Rudy Gobert isn't going to space the floor, Julius Randle isn't known for his 3-point shooting, and Mike Conley can shoot, but he can't create his own looks very well from beyond the arc. McDaniels finding his 3-point shot is crucial for the offense to open up for everyone else, and himself.
He needs to avoid foul trouble -- especially extremely early in the game
When McDaniels can escape the first quarter with one foul or less, you're usually in for a good game from him on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, that didn't happen in Game 5. He picked up two fouls in the first couple of minutes; the second one the Timberwolves challenged, but it was upheld. This usually throws off his rhythm, as he's forced to sit for a lot longer and sooner than he would usually.
This also causes him to play defense a lot more casually, allowing his matchup, in this case, Jamal Murray, to impose his will on the game a lot easier. When he avoids this foul trouble, he can be the aggressor on Murray, making him uncomfortable with hounding ball pressure.
Ultimately, it will be on everyone if the Wolves are to close this out on Thursday, but all season long, Jaden McDaniels has been the best barometer for how the Wolves play as a team. Good Jaden games lead to Wolves wins more likely than not.
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