Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets
Date: October 26th, 2025
Time: 8:30 PM CDT
Location: Target Center
Television Coverage: Peacock
Radio Coverage: KFAN FM, Wolves App, iHeart Radio
They don’t hand out banners for psychological warfare, but if they did, the Timberwolves would already be hanging one over the visitors’ tunnel just for the way they’ve taken up residence inside Denver’s head. Eight straight. Read that again: eight straight. Games 6 and 7 in 2024, a 4–0 regular-season sweep last year, some Terrence Shannon Jr. summer-league spice, and the San Diego preseason curtain-raiser for dessert. Eight is great. Nine would be divine. And now here comes Nikola Jokic, frothing at the mouth, because nobody likes being the punchline in another team’s running bit.
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Complication: it’s the second half of a back-to-back for Minnesota after a 48-minute arm-wrestle with Indiana. Cliffhanger: Anthony Edwards logged only three and a half minutes with hamstring tightness. He’s officially a game-time decision, which means we’re all going to play the “is he moving freely in warmups?” parlor game while the broadcast shows ten minutes of him in a hoodie.
1) Make Jokic work for his dinner—every bite.
There’s no “stopping” him; there’s only “making him hate how much effort it takes.” This is why the Wolves’ three-man frontcourt machine matters tonight: Rudy Gobert to absorb the primary assignment and test the angles; Julius Randle to toggle between bully-ball offense and strong-side digs; Naz Reid to turn minutes into sprints and drag Jokic into more movement than he prefers. If Rudy picks up early fouls or you need five tactical hacks to steal a rest, don’t be shocked if Joan Beringer buys a quick cameo as another big body to burn a few possessions and keep the main horses fresh. The goal isn’t to erase Jokic’s box score; it’s to make the fourth quarter feel like the 55th minute for him.
2) Starve Jamal Murray’s rhythm.
When Denver is Denver, it’s because Murray gets to dance into pull-ups off two-man wizardry. If Jaden McDaniels is your handcuff, you live with the tough makes and erase the easy ones, top-lock the handoffs, blow up the re-screens, and force the ball to the other side of the floor. If Ant plays, you tag-team those minutes with Jaden to chase, Ant to switch and body. No cheap fouls, no “walk-into-it” threes. Make Jamal pass just enough that Denver’s fifth option has to make decisions under duress.
3) Win the non-Conley minutes without melting down.
In Portland and L.A. you saw the turnovers pile up when the pressure ramped. Against Indiana, the Wolves looked more connected: Mike Conley Jr. stayed the adult in the room, Donte DiVincenzo and Bones Highland found functional lanes, and the ball didn’t die on one side of the floor. With Rob Dillingham still nursing the broken nose, it will be the same trio tonight. If Conley plays his usual chess and the helpers avoid hero passes, you neutralize Denver’s biggest opportunistic edge.
4) Lean into the depth.
Last year Minnesota outlasted Denver because the Wolves could credibly play nine or ten, while the Nuggets benched themselves into a prayer circle. Naz as an ignition switch. Terrence Shannon Jr. as downhill juice. Jalen Clark as the “your best perimeter scorer is annoyed now” minutes. Stagger Randle to prop up bench units. If Minnesota’s legs are heavy after last night, then the rotation has to buy the starters oxygen.
5) Batman and Robin vs. the Joker
If Ant is cleared, he’s the hammer. Not necessarily 40-point theatrics (though don’t rule it out), but the “I’m deciding where this game is played” kind of night. Attack early in the clock, force weak-side help, and live at the line. If Ant is limited or sits, Randle has to rerun the script he found late last postseason: inside-out bully to collapse, then hit shooters and cutters on time. The version of Julius who embraces facilitator-first offense turns Minnesota into a math problem Denver hates.
6) Defend the glass like it’s Game 7.
Denver’s most demoralizing sequences aren’t Jokic no-look lasers; it’s the tip-out to More Threes. Minnesota’s identity under Gobert is “one shot and it’s our ball.” That has to be non-negotiable, especially on a back-to-back. Hit, hold, then run.
It’s a gut check and a validation test rolled into one. The streak is fun. The psychology is real, but the standings are what actually matter. You just emptied the tank against a defending conference champion, your best player is a coin-flip at warmups, and the best player on the planet is in your building with a personal scoreboard in his head that reads 0–8. This is early-season stress you usually don’t see until March.
And that’s the point. If this Wolves group is what we think it is, battle-hardened, deeper than Denver, smarter than last October, then they’ll treat tonight like a business trip in their own arena. The game can be ugly if it has to be, precise when it can be, and mean on defense, always.
Peacock gets the stream. Target Center gets the smoke. Eight is already great. Make it nine.
