Nuggets avoid elimination behind Nikola Jokic triple-double

With their back against the wall, the Denver Nuggets stayed thanks to their MVP. Nikola Jokic carved up the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves with his passing in a 125-113 Game 5 win to force the series back to Minneapolis.

Jokic finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists in a much-needed return to form after Minnesota held him to 31.3 percent shooting and just 12 assists in two road losses. Now, he and the Nuggets must take advantage of two major Wolves injuries to claw their way back from a 3-1 deficit.

Denver Nuggets finally showed good defense against Minnesota Timberwolves

Jaden McDaniels declared that the Nuggets were "all bad defenders" after Minnesota's Game 2 win. He proceeded to back up his trash talk with 20 points in the Wolves' Game 3 victory. In Game 4, Donte DiVincenzo suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the first minutes and Anthony Edwards hyperextended his knee in the second quarter, but Minnesota still scored 112 points.

With DiVincenzo out indefinitely and Edwards out for the rest of the series, the Wolves offense sputtered in Game 5. The Nuggets finished with 16 steals and the Wolves committed 25 turnovers in the loss, a clear effect of losing two top ball handlers. Denver scored 35 points off turnovers to Minnesota's 21, a 14-point disparity that accounted for the margin of victory.

Jokic drew criticism for his poor interior defense as the Nuggets dropped three of the first four games. Despite Jokic in the middle, the Wolves had 68 points in the paint to the Nuggets' 34 in Game 3, while Ayo Dosunmu attacked the paint for eight baskets and 12 free throws on his way to 42 points in Game 4.

Monday, Jokic was a steady influence as Minnesota only scored 28 paint points in the first three quarters. They finally started doing damage inside after trailing by 24 points with the Nuggets focusing on the three-point line, though they never cut the lead to single digits.

Minnesota Timberwolves couldn't stop Nikola Jokic's passing

Not only are Edwards and DiVincenzo big scorers, they're both active, ball-hawking defenders. That took pressure off of Jokic, who hasn't had his usual passing angles in this series thanks to Rudy Gobert's ability to guard him without double-teaming and the active hands of the Timberwolves guards.

The result was 16 assists, Jokic's second-highest playoff total ever.