MINNEAPOLIS — Jaden McDaniels poured jet fuel on the already flaming Nuggets-Timberwolves rivalry at the end of Minnesota’s 112-96 Game 4 win Saturday, scoring an uncontested layup 1.3 seconds before the final buzzer instead of running out the clock. Then Nikola Jokic decided he was sick of McDaniels’ antics, which have defined this first-round playoff series.
Denver’s three-time MVP center was ejected after he ran the length of the court to confront McDaniels in front of Minnesota’s bench. As they squared up, players from both teams joined the fray. Timberwolves forward Julius Randle was also ejected.
“I don’t know what (Jokic) said, to be honest,” McDaniels said. “I just seen someone that was big as hell. … Clock still be running, so I’m about to go score.”
A terse Jokic said he confronted McDaniels “because he scored and everybody stopped playing.” He answered a series of questions about the altercation with short answers.
Renck: Nuggets, Nikola Jokic show fight against Timberwolves with a second left. That sums up this lopsided series.
Did he regret confronting McDaniels at all? “No. I don’t regret.”
Does he view it as an unwritten rule not to score when the game is essentially over? “Yeah.”
Was any part of him trying to fire up his own team, at the end of a disappointing loss? “No.”
“Come on, guys,” Jokic told reporters. “You saw it, what happened.”
Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets leaves the floor upon being ejected along with Julius Randle (30) of the Minnesota Timberwolves after the two engaged in a physical altercation during the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ 112-96 win in game four of their NBA Playoffs series at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Nuggets coach David Adelman and Jokic’s teammates backed up the big man in their postgame remarks.
“Obviously, I didn’t like what McDaniels did,” Adelman said. “The game was over. The game was conceded both ways. In 2026, that stuff just doesn’t happen anymore. That’s something that happens in the ’80s, when teams would continue to score. But that’s who he is. And so if that’s what they want to do, that’s what they want to do. That has nothing to do with the win or the loss.”
“I’m behind Jok, you know what I mean?” Aaron Gordon added. “So whatever Jok is on, we on, too. So if he takes exception to it, I do, too.”
Adelman said he doesn’t think any players should be suspended for leaving the bench. The NBA rulebook states that “during an altercation, all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench. Violators may be subject to suspension, without pay, for a minimum of one game and fined up to $100,000.”
Gordon, Denver’s Jonas Valanciunas and Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert were among the players who weren’t participating in the game but left their benches during the incident.
“I think their whole team walked onto the floor. … We all stayed. Yeah, we all stayed seated,” Gordon said, playing coy. “I don’t know what the league is gonna do about that. You’ve got two ejections. You might as well keep it at that.”
A league investigation into the incident was underway Sunday afternoon. The rulebook also states: “In determining whether to impose discipline on a player for leaving the bench area in connection with an altercation during a game, the NBA will take into account … the distance the player traveled from his team’s bench and the extent to which he entered the immediate proximity of the altercation.”
Because the confrontation between Jokic and McDaniels took place closer to Minnesota’s bench, Denver’s involved players traveled farther.
“No suspensions (expected) for us. I didn’t see anything out of line,” Adelman said. “Obviously, they’ll have the Hawkeye view of the whole thing. But from what I saw from my standpoint, I saw Jok get into it with Randle toward the middle of the scrum, and then both guys were ejected.”
The scrum follows McDaniels calling out Jokic and other Nuggets players for being “bad defenders” after Minnesota’s 119-114 win in Game 2, which flipped momentum in the series.
“Go at Jokic. Jamal. All the bad defenders,” he said when asked about his team’s approach on offense. “Tim Hardaway. Cam Johnson. Aaron Gordon. The whole team. Just go at them.”
Jaden McDaniels (3) of the Minnesota Timberwolves locks up Jamal Murray (27) of the Denver Nuggets during the third quarter of the Timberwolves’ 112-96 win in game four of their NBA Playoffs series at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
The Timberwolves haven’t looked back, winning three straight. Game 5 is Monday (8:30 p.m. MT) at Ball Arena. The Nuggets haven’t been eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs since 2022, when Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. were both out for the season.
McDaniels registered a 20-point double-double in Game 3. He was a team-best plus-14 in Game 4, amassing another 12 points and eight rebounds while guarding Murray.
Timberwolves guard Mike Conley, who passed the ball ahead to McDaniels before the layup, said after the game that he wasn’t trying to cause trouble and regretted the decision because he shouldn’t known McDaniels would show-boat.
“That was a slip-up. That’s on me. I take the blame,” Conley said, laughing. “I apologize to the Denver Nuggets. I apologize to myself, my team, everybody. As soon as I threw it, I looked and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s Jaden.’ I almost put my hands on my head, but I was like, ‘Maybe he won’t.’ … You can even see me, like, lower my head.”
Denver’s chances in the series might not be completely dead, given that Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo left Game 4 with injuries. DiVincenzo is done for the season after tearing his right Achilles tendon, while Edwards’ status for Game 5 and beyond is in question. He hyperextended his left knee late in the first half.
