Timberwolves take a 2-1 lead on the Nuggets with a dominant defensive effort in a 113-96 Game 3 win

MINNEAPOLIS — Jaden McDaniels and the Minnesota Timberwolves flexed even more of their defensive muscle against the flagging Denver Nuggets, seizing a 2-1 lead in the first-round NBA playoff series with a dominant 113-96 victory in Game 3 on Thursday night.

McDaniels had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Ayo Dosunmu added 25 points and nine assists off the bench, and Donte DiVincenzo had 15 points and four steals for the surging Timberwolves.

Rudy Gobert followed his inspired Game 2 effort against Nikola Jokic by stifling the three-time MVP again on an ugly 7-for-26 shooting night, and the Timberwolves established a postseason franchise record by allowing the Nuggets just 11 points in the tone-setting first quarter.

Jokic finished with a too-little-too-late 27 points and 15 rebounds for the Nuggets, who were missing Aaron Gordon to a calf injury and all of the energy he provides from his starting power forward spot. Jamal Murray had 16 points on just 5-for-17 shooting.

McDaniels, who flatly answered a question about Minnesota’s offensive strategy after Game 2 by labeling all of Denver’s players “bad defenders,” proved to be more prescient than reckless with his assessment. Rather than irking the Nuggets, he had himself and his teammates fired up as the series shifted to their home court.

The Wolves turned loose their primary wing players — McDaniels, DiVincenzo and Dosunmu — to repeatedly attack the basket as they raced around the Nuggets at every turn in the first half on the way to a 61-39 lead.

McDaniels added a 3-pointer and a one-handed slam in traffic down the stretch in one of his finest performances in the postseason for Minnesota.