The Minnesota Timberwolves sent a message with their win over the reigning champion. The Denver Nuggets were left stunned after suffering a loss in Game 1 of their series against their West rivals. Led by the incessant resistance of Anthony Edwards and sublime defense, the Wolves dissected the Nuggets into pieces.

Jamal Murray, the man who single-handedly dumped the Lakers twice in their series was shut down by Ant-Man and Mike Conley. It left Nikola Jokic to assume the scoring onus. While he succeeded prolifically, it was no match for the blaze the Wolves rained down on Denver. The Ball Arena was reduced to a painful silence as fans watched their team crumble.

Edwards, who dropped 43 took the major credit for the win. However, Rudy Gobert‘s tenacious defense on the Joker helped the Timberwolves gain an undue advantage. A veteran NBA expert went over the first game and highlighted one play that stuck out to him and compared it to picking off the great Tom Brady.

Rudy Gobert was the unsung hero behind slowing down Nikola Jokic?

Jokic has probably never encountered a defense like the Wolves. They have three seven-footers – Towns, Naz Reid, and Gobert all of whom are physically strong and brute forces. The two-time league MVP was battered throughout the game. He withstood the terrorizing pressure from the Wolves’ ‘twin towers’. However, it did come with some of his avenues being taken away.

One such play stood out to Bill Simmons. During a two-man play with Aaron Gordon, Gobert was the sole man taking on the tandem. Jokic owing to his selfless nature threw a lob for Gordon to put down. They have done so countless times, but never did it seem to break until they met a three-time DPOY.

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Gobert plucked it out and forced a turnover. Simmons was astounded by Rudy Gobert’s decision. He claims to have never seen a player manipulate Nikola Jokic that way. “He was the first guy who guessed it. It was like somebody pick off Tom Brady in ’07 just like completely reading some pass play that had worked a 100 straight times”, said Simmons.

Gordon has that unspoken connection with his Serbian teammate. In the regular season, he received 126 assists from Nikola Jokic, the most by any player on the Nuggets roster. Their patented play worked largely due to the defensive attention the Joker commands. Just this time around, Rudy Gobert was three steps ahead.

After the game, the Joker was visibly tired. He was pushed to the edge so much that he said, “To have a duplicate clone of myself, and then I could be fresh when they sub another guy, I’m gonna be fresh”. The Timberwolves have the best defense in the NBA. Edwards and Conley are going to hound Murray to the extreme. Then Jokic is left to tackle with three bigs all on his own.

Could it prove to be the strategy that works against the Joker or does he have a mischievous trick up his sleeves?