DENVER (KDVR) — On Thursday night, the Denver Nuggets were upset by the Minnesota Timberwolves, bringing an end to their playoff run well before they would have liked, and leaving many questions to be answered.
Where does the team go from here?
Not your average upset
The Western Conference was so stacked this year that a No. 3 seed might as well have been a No. 6 seed, with only a few wins separating the positions. That was the case with the Nuggets and Timberwolves — the Nuggets being the No. 3 seed with a 54-28 record and the Timberwolves the No. 6 with a 49-22 record.
With both teams primarily healthy, the Timberwolves outplayed the Nuggets and established a dominant 3-1 lead behind stellar play. Then the Timberwolves stars started to drop like flies, opening the door wide open for the Nuggets, who should have capitalized, but failed to complete the comeback after taking the series to six games.
The Timberwolves were without starting guard Donte DiVincenzo, superstar Anthony Edwards and the best player of the series, Ayo Dosunmu, who was torching the Nuggets for 21.8 points per game on a ridiculous 60.9/54.5/95.0 shooting line.
In their defense, the Nuggets were missing Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson, but on paper, they should have handily beaten the remaining Timberwolves team.
Where did the offense go?
The Nuggets finished the 2025-26 NBA regular season as the best offensive team in the league. They led the NBA in offensive rating (122.6), three-point percentage (39.6%), half-court offense (105.7) and effective field goal and true shooting percentage.
After finishing the regular season ranked No. 21 defensively, the team’s dynamo offense was supposed to be the thing that carried them through the postseason, but they disappeared big time.
In the regular season, the Nuggets averaged 122.1 points per game, but in the playoffs, they averaged only 107.5 points on 43.6% from the field and a disastrous 31.1% from three.
Opposing defenses tighten up in the playoffs, so a scoring drop-off can be expected, but no team is ever going to win a series by almost shooting less than 30% from three, especially in 2026, when the three is king.
Tiny tweaks or major changes?
The Nuggets made some major moves in the offseason, focusing on shedding contracts while adding depth.
It was an injury-riddled season that had plenty of ups and downs, with a major up being a 12-game win streak to end the year. Things looked to be turning in favor of the Nuggets, but a lacklustre playoff exit in the first round means that the team is right back to square one.
Now the front office will have some decisions to make — does the team need another star via a major move, or is it a matter of finding better personnel to surround the team’s current stars?
One thing the front office needs to be looking into is some defensive stoppers. With Watson and Gordon out through injury, the team was missing two of its most impactful defenders, but even with them on the court, the team is miles off the defensive fortitude needed to win a championship.
Fifteen of the last 23 championship winners had a defensive rating in the top five of the NBA and in the last 30 years, only three teams have not been in the top 10: the 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers, 2017-18 Golden State Warriors and 2022-23 Nuggets.
After a disappointing exit, it might be safe to say that anyone not named Nikola Jokić should be comfortable where they’re sitting, players and staff.
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