Nuggets vs. Timberwolves preseason observations: Jamal Murray arrives

The Nuggets wrapped up their 2024 preseason with a 132-126 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday at Target Center, finishing 1-4.

Denver’s starters played most of the game, while Minnesota coach Chris Finch rested his. The Nuggets have a week without competition now before they open their 2024-25 season against the Thunder on Oct. 24 at Ball Arena.

Better late than never for Jamal Murray

If only one thing mattered in the Nuggets’ preseason finale, it was probably that Murray showed some sign of life after experiencing knee pain while warming up for a game Sunday then sitting out the next one on Tuesday.

Going into Minnesota, he was averaging 5.3 points this preseason on 32% shooting. His usage wasn’t high in the three games he played, which had a lot to do with the pedestrian stats, but those numbers were nonetheless unnerving after his poor performance at the Olympics.

The point guard calmed those nerves in Minnesota. The Nuggets seemingly made a point to run their offense through him more and design after-timeout sets for him. He supplied 25 points on 5-of-6 outside shooting, sprinkling in 3s off the dribble and the catch. He got to the foul line for eight attempts, an especially encouraging sign of willingness to invite physicality. And among his five assists, he managed to slingshot a beautiful left-handed bounce pass around two defenders, along the baseline, to Julian Strawther for a corner three.

Nikola Jokic cooked by Luka Garza

Michael Malone played all five starters through the end of the third quarter for the first time this month, leading to an amusing conclusion to Jokic’s preseason. He seemed mostly content to let Minnesota reserve center Luka Garza get whatever shots he wanted. The former two-way player took advantage of that lackadaisical defense with a passionate 29-point performance.

Jokic, unlike Murray, is not a player whom anybody is worried about in Denver, which worked to his teammates’ benefit Thursday. At the offensive end, he was in refuse-to-shoot mode for most of the night, a trade-off for the scoring impetus falling on Murray. The three-time MVP tinkered more with his tool belt of creative passes instead, distributing the Nuggets to their best collective shooting game of the preseason.

They finished 55% from the floor and 58% beyond the arc. Michael Porter Jr. added a 7-for-9 night. Julian Strawther piled on 33 points to finish his preseason 50% from 3-point range (26 shots). Even Vlatko Cancar received some first-half rotation minutes in a change from recent games, playing the three alongside Jokic and Aaron Gordon. Jokic assisted a couple of Cancar buckets to nudge along a nine-point, 4-for-5 night.

Russ starts slow, then saves Nuggets from winless preseason

None of these results actually matter, but an 0-5 preseason still would not have been an ideal opening scene in the script of the 2024-25 Nuggets.

“Listen, man, there’s no panic,” Malone said Tuesday at Ball Arena. “There are concerns, of course. There are. We have lots of areas that we can improve upon. But I know that when we’re fully healthy and we have our guys playing, I know what this team is capable of, and it’s my job in this next nine days to help us get there for opening night.”

His team managed to avoid stumbling into opening night winless, largely thanks to the fourth-quarter production of Strawther and Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook had four turnovers in his first seven minutes earlier in the game. But he did all the things he does best in the final stanza while playing with his younger teammates: transition layups, tenacious defense, even a couple of jumpers. After a 5-for-7 night (13 points, five assists), expect Westbrook to start the season as Malone’s first substitution off the bench. The coach referred to Russ as one of the Nuggets’ top-six players this week.

After dominating the Saints on Thursday Night Football in New Orleans, the Broncos are above .500 after seven games for the first time since 2016. While that season didn’t end in a postseason berth, it is the last time Denver ended a season with a winning record. Here’s a look at how each of those seasons played out: