The Minnesota Timberwolves were always going to be up against in their opening round playoff series with the Denver Nuggets. Their performance in Game 1, however, was disheartening to say the least. They were battered from pillar to post during their 109-80 humiliation in Denver, and if they’re to be competitive in this series there is a lot that needs to change. Here are three key adjustments that Minnesota must make in the wake of their embarrassing Game 1 loss.

The Timberwolves have struggled on the glass all season. The 70.3% of defensive rebounds that they grab ranks them 26th in the league, and they don’t exactly attack the offensive glass either, also ranking 26th for that statistic, per nba.com. The Nuggets, however, aren’t exactly league-leaders in those categories, ranking just above league average, so Minnesota could have been forgiven for expecting to be able to contain them on the boards. They didn’t.

The Nuggets were absolutely dominant from a rebounding perspective, grabbing 54 throughout the course of the game compared to the Timberwolves 38. Surprisingly, Minnesota was actually able to outscore Denver in second chance points despite that discrepancy, but if they give up such a significant advantage to their opposition on the boards in Game 2, that’s unlikely to happen again. After being dismantled in the series opener, the Timberwolves need to find numerous ways to level the playing field, and at least going close to breaking even on the glass is one of them.

Heading into this series, one area in which it looked like the Timberwolves might have an advantage was points in the paint. The Nuggets aren’t particularly good at defending inside – for all of his brilliance, Nikola Jokic isn’t renowned for his defense, even if that fact is on occasion overhyped. They gave up 52.5 points in the paint per game this season, the tenth most in the league. Meanwhile, the Wolves score a lot of their points inside; 54.3 per game, to be exact, enough for seventh in the league.

Not only did they not exploit that advantage in Game 1 – they struggled immensely at getting good looks in the paint, scoring just 36 points in there all game. The Nuggets scored 48 paint points. There has been plenty of discussion about Rudy Gobert and how he fits in with this team, but the reality is that he’s there, and the Timberwolves need to figure out how to best use him. A back injury has apparently been affecting his performance, but even so, he got just five looks in Sunday’s game, and some more pick and roll action between he and Conley might be worth exploring.

Their two stars in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards also need to be more aggressive. Towns needs to do more work with his back to the basket after a game in which seven of his 15 shots came from beyond the arc, while Edwards, who has struggled so far this postseason, needs to utilize his athleticism and recapture the attack style of play which has seen him improve significantly in each of his three years in the league.

Tim Crean · 11 hours ago

Enzo Flojo · 11 hours ago

Jack Tien-Dana · 12 hours ago

Fast break points were far from the solitary reason the Timberwolves were so comprehensively beaten in Game 1, but it’s certainly something that they need to tighten up if they’re to be more competitive for the rest of this series. The Nuggets scored 16 of them throughout the course of the night, which in and of itself is not a disaster. However, with the game played at a relatively slow pace, they needed to limit the easy points more than they did, particularly given that the Timberwolves themselves only managed three fast break points.

The Nuggets are generally pretty good in this department, thanks in no small part to Jokic’s eyes-up approach to handling the ball in the backcourt, and the 16.2 fast break points per game they average is fifth in the league. The Timberwolves, however, are usually pretty competent in this area themselves, so the differential in Game 1 was certainly not indicative of how these teams normally score. Conceding 16 fast break points in a game is not the end of the world, but when you’re only managing three of your own, it very quickly becomes a problem.

After a 29-point defeat, there isn’t one thing on its own which is going to help the Timberwolves compete against the Nuggets. There is plenty that needs to change, and even if it does they may struggle against the might of Jokic, Murray and co. The above three adjustments, however, are three of the most pivotal that they need to make, and if they can find a way to rebound a lot better, attack the paint a lot more successfully, and close the gap on fast break points, it will go a long way to evening up the series.