The Denver Nuggets responded in a big way in game five on Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 112-96 victory, but Nuggets head coach David Adelman knows the battle is far from over. 

Winning on Monday meant that the Nuggets have avoided elimination for at least one more game, but every game moving forward remans win-or-go-home. Denver can't afford to let off the gas and even though Monday was the kind of response that the Nuggets needed, there's still a lot more to improve on. 

Denver outscored Minnesota in the first three quarters of the game, but Minnesota came back just as strong in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Nuggets 30-18 to make what would have been a blowout into a much tighter game by comparison.

It was that fourth quarter that left a sour taste in Adelman's mouth after the game and paired with the still-dire situation that the Nuggets are in, he was hesitant to enjoy the victory and instead was far more keen on preparing for the next game. 

With five games now played in the series, the Nuggets have a lot of recent film to build off of and learn from and they will need to apply each of those lessons moving forward while building off the momentum that game five has given them.

"It's just a good win, then you move on," Adelman said (via Nuggets). "Tomorrow we'll sit down, talk with the guys, get them right. It gives us a chance to go through things on Wednesday and try to win on Thursday."

The response that the Timberwolves were able to muster in the fourth quarter is a worrying sign, even with the Denver win. Minnesota is down Anthony Edwards, which obviously hurts their overall offensive output, but they still have a deep bench that lets them stay in games and throw seemingly endless offense Denver's way.

Maintaining the pace that allows them to compete with the Timberwolves will be among the Nuggets' chief concerns. Another will be matching Minnesota's physicality, which itself is bolstered by the Timberwolves' pace.

Denver had the benefit of playing on its home court in game five, which lends a huge energetic advantage to the game that paired with the high emotions that erupted after game four's ending, gave the Nuggets an extra boost to come away with win.

They won't have that advantage in game six in Minnesota as they continue to try and fend off elimination. Game five is a great springboard for the Nuggets to use to continue to compete in the series, but they still have to learn from their pile of past mistakes to keep their season alive.