Nuggets never trailed a playoff series in 2023 NBA championship run. Timberwolves have them in unfamiliar territory: “We know it’s gonna be a long series”

The basketball robot programmed to troubleshoot and negate any problem with relative ease encountered a worthy brain-teaser Saturday night. How does one center adjust to a team that’s able to throw three capable and well-rested bigs at him throughout the course of a game? Nikola Jokic was actually stumped. “Have a duplicate clone of myself,” he said finally. “And then I can be fresh when they sub another guy.” After the Nuggets’ 106-99 Game 1 loss at Ball Arena, no other comment more fittingly epitomized the daunting uphill battle they face in the Minnesota Timberwolves. “They already were a good...