Jaden McDaniels heard it from the moment he touched the ball Monday night in Denver. The Minnesota Timberwolves forward was booed throughout Game 5 and the crowd chanted, “Jaden sucks!” as Denver beat Minnesota 125-113, leaving the Timberwolves still ahead 3-2 in the Western Conference series.
McDaniels, who has spent much of his career in Anthony Edwards’ shadow as a quiet, defense-first player, said the hostility only sharpened him. “I love this environment, everyone hating me, all the hate’s coming toward me,” he said after the game. “I love it. I don’t care. I feed into it. It just brings the best out of me. We just ended up losing today, but we’re going to win the next one.”
The Game 5 loss came with McDaniels in an early bind. He picked up two fouls in the first 2:16 and finished with 13 points in 27 minutes, missing all three of his 3-pointers while grabbing three rebounds and turning the ball over four times. The Timberwolves challenged the offensive foul call on McDaniels, but crew chief James Capers upheld it because McDaniels extended his forearm.
Chris Finch said he thought McDaniels had a clear lane to the basket and that Johnson came over for what he called a tough start more than anything else. “I don’t think Jaden’s worried about whether they boo him when he touches the ball,” Finch said. The coach’s view matched the way the night played out: McDaniels was targeted by the crowd, but the bigger problem for Minnesota was how quickly the game tilted when he had to sit.
The Nuggets seized on that opening. Jamal Murray scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting in the first quarter after McDaniels went to the bench, then added 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting over the final three quarters. Minnesota was outscored by 25 points while McDaniels was on the floor, a margin that showed how much the Timberwolves struggled to steady themselves when Denver pushed the pace and the ball started slipping away.
McDaniels said Minnesota hurried its offense and made too many mistakes. “I would say we were rushing our offense a little bit so we were making silly mistakes,” he said. He added, “It’s on me. I gotta be better, not fouling early in the game and just taking care of the ball. Four turnovers, I usually don’t do that.” He had turned the ball over at least four times in only five regular-season games.
The Timberwolves had a chance to close out Denver on the road, something they also had done on their home floor for the second time in three years. Instead, the series rolled on to Thursday night in Minnesota, where the Timberwolves were scheduled to try again in Game 6 and where McDaniels, for all the noise in Denver, will likely be asked to carry the same calm edge that has helped push this team into the Western Conference race in the first place.
The sequence is familiar for Minnesota: Edwards gets the attention, McDaniels does the work, and the results often depend on whether his defense and decision-making hold under pressure. That has been the thread of the series, from his earlier praise for Rudy Gobert after Game 1 to the heat he drew before Game 3 and then the playoff roar that followed him Monday night. What happens next is simpler now. The Timberwolves can end it Thursday, but if McDaniels starts fast and keeps the ball moving, Denver will have to hear from him again.
