Jaden McDaniels has turned himself into the villain of the series against the Denver Nuggets, and he has done it by talking just as much as he has by playing. He called out Denver’s starting lineup by name and said they cannot defend, then kept pressing buttons with Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and coach David Adelman in different parts of the series.
McDaniels has backed it up on the floor. He is averaging 15 points per game in the series and has shot 48.4 percent from the field, while also holding Murray to 34.1 percent shooting overall and 25 percent from 3-point range. That matters for Minnesota because McDaniels is one of the team’s few real spacing threats from the corner, and the Wolves are already playing with enough non-shooters without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo’s spacing.
During the regular season, McDaniels shot 41.2 percent from 3-point range, but that touch has disappeared in the postseason. He has made one of his 14 playoff attempts from deep, a dropoff that changes how Denver can defend Minnesota and how much room the Wolves have to operate. Rudy Gobert is not going to space the floor, Julius Randle is not known for his 3-point shooting, and Mike Conley can make threes but does not create his own looks very well from beyond the arc.
The issue gets sharper when McDaniels cannot stay out of trouble early. When he escapes the first quarter with one foul or less, he is usually in line for a good game on both sides of the ball. In Game 5, he picked up two fouls in the first couple of minutes, and Minnesota challenged the second one but the call was upheld.
That leaves the Timberwolves in a hard place as they try to protect a 3-1 lead that has become more fragile than it looked a few games ago, even if injuries have played a major part in the slide. McDaniels has been good overall against Denver, but if his 3-point shot stays cold and his minutes keep getting disrupted by fouls, the player who has become the series’ antagonist could end up deciding more than just a matchup with Murray.