Jaden McDaniels speaks after his game six performance that closed out the Denver Nuggets.
The Minnesota Timberwolves managed to move on to the second round on Thursday night with a 110-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets, winning the series 4-2.
The Timberwolves were down two starters as Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo were both injured in the first half of game four. Edwards suffered a bone bruise in his knee that will sideline him for multiple weeks, though there is optimism that he'll be able to return at some point in the second round.
The news was much worse for DiVincenzo, who tore his Achilles just two minutes into game four.
Minnesota got more bad news head of game six as Ayo Dosunmu, who scored 43 points in game four, was listed as out with a calf injury.
Despite missing two starters and their top guard off the bench, Minnesota found a way to win.
Enter Jaden McDaniels
Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels elevated his play all series, but specifically rose to the moment in game six, scoring 32 points, grabbing ten rebounds, and playing lockdown defense on Jamal Murray all game. McDaniels played 45 minutes in the contest as well.
McDaniels was vocal in a variety of ways throughout the series, both on the court and off.
After game two, McDaniels called everyone on Denver a bad defender. He backed up his words in game three, scoring 20 points. In game four, he and Nikola Jokic got into a scuffle after Jokic took exception to McDaniels breaking an "unwritten rule" of scoring after the Nuggets had effectively conceded. McDaniels didn't back down from Jokic during the altercation, grabbing him by the jersey after Jokic charged after him.
Though Minnesota lost game five, McDaniels stated after the game that his team would win game six and that they wouldn't be heading back to Denver.
He once again backed up his words with his game six performance.
Jaden McDaniels Speaks
After game six, McDaniels was asked about his words throughout the series and if he said those things to try and get into the heads of Denver players
"I just didn't care. I said what I said, I'm not going to say it again. I just don't care. It's just how I am," he said.
McDaniels finished the series averaging 17.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists to go along with shutdown defense on Jamal Murray, who struggled for the majority of the series, shooting a playoff career low 35% from the field and 26% from three.