MINNEAPOLIS -- Jaden McDaniels decided to cap off a resounding and emotional 112-96 Game 4 win for the Minnesota Timberwolves late Saturday night with an uncontested transition layup with 1.3 seconds left.
Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, standing at the half-court line expecting the clock to expire, took exception to McDaniels' exclamation point and confronted him in front of the Timberwolves' bench, inciting a skirmish that spiked the temperature in an already heated playoff rivalry.
"Clock still be running," McDaniels said. "So, I'm going to go score."
Jokic sprinted across the floor, said something to McDaniels with a shrug and pushed him toward the sideline. McDaniels responded by grabbing Jokic's jersey and dragging Jokic with him. The two ended up in a mosh pit.
"I don't know what [Jokic] said, to be honest," McDaniels said. "I just seen someone who was big as hell."
The resulting review led to ejections for both Jokic and Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, who entered the fray and escalated the situation with some shoves before the clock finally expired to officially give the Timberwolves a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.
"I don't regret it," Jokic said of McDaniels postgame. "Because he scored after everybody stopped playing."
The league will assuredly review the altercation and aftermath prior to Monday night's Game 5 in Denver, including whether any players left the bench area on either side. Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, out of the game at the time, did venture down the sideline toward the mix of bodies.
"I didn't like what McDaniels did," Nuggets coach David Adelman said. "The game was over. The game was conceded. In 2026, that stuff just doesn't happen anymore. That's something that happens in the '80s, where teams would continue to score. But that's who he is."
McDaniels has become a central figure in the brewing rivalry between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets. After a Game 2 win in Denver, McDaniels roasted the Nuggets individually, calling Jokic, Gordon, Jamal Murray and others "bad defenders," a sound bite that generated a two-day annoyance for the Nuggets.