The Minnesota Timberwolves took a commanding 3-1 series lead in their first round matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, winning 112-96 despite missing two starters in the second half. 

The Timberwolves defense once again stifled in the high-powered Nuggets offense, and Ayo Dosunmu stepped up off the bench, scoring 43 points with Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards sidelined. 

Though the Timberwolves were well in control of the game, things got out of hand in the final seconds thanks to Jaden McDaniels breaking an "unwritten rule" of basketball, scoring when the game had been conceded, but time still remaining on the clock. 

The Timberwolves were up 110-96 with 18 seconds remaining, and Denver having possession of the ball. Jamal Murray tried to put more points on the board, taking a three with ten seconds remaining, but missed. 

Mike Conley grabbed the rebound and tossed the ball down court to McDaniels, who had leaked out. Instead of dribbling the ball out or simply holding onto it, McDaniels scored on a layup. 

Nikola Jokic took exception to the play by McDaniels, racing down the court to confront him. McDaniels grabbed Jokic by the jersey as Jokic backed him into the bench. Both teams, coaches, and officials got involved. No punches were thrown between the two, and everyone was eventually separated. 

Jokic and Julius Randle, who was knocking people out of the way, were both ejected. 

After the game, McDaniels said he couldn't really describe what happened regarding the incident. 

Asked about his decision to score on the layup, McDaniels replied, "The game still had time on the clock." 

Finally, McDaniels was asked what Jokic said to him as the two were face-to-face. 

"I don't know what he said, to be honest. I just saw someone that was big as hell," he replied. 

McDaniels has been a huge factor for the Timberwolves through the first four games of the series. 

In game two, he scored 14 points in helping the Timberwolves comeback after the first quarter, and called out the Denver defense after the game, calling them all bad defenders. He backed up his words with 20 points in game three. 

Though his scoring impact wasn't felt as much in game four, Ayo Dosunmu had 43 points for the Timberwolves, and McDaniels' length and physicality on the defensive end has helped hault the Nuggets offense. 

In the past two games, the Timberwolves defense has held the Nuggets offense to under 100 points. They scored under 100 points only two times all regular season. Both games were without Jokic and one game was without Jamal Murray as well.