DENVER (AP) — Jaden McDaniels took perhaps his most notable shot after Minnesota's 119-114 playoff win at Denver in Game 2 on Monday night.
The Timberwolves forward pretty much labeled all the Nuggets' players bad defenders. Thrown in there were All-Stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
“Go after Jokic, Jamal, all the bad defenders,” said McDaniels, who had 14 points and three assists. "Tim Hardaway (Jr.), Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, the whole team, just go at them.”
So they're all bad defenders?
“Yeah, they’re all bad defenders,” McDaniels added.
The Timberwolves overcame a 19-point deficit to even the first-round series, which shifts to Minnesota for Game 3 on Thursday night. Anthony Edwards led the way with 30 points despite playing on a sore knee. He also had 10 rebounds.
“They don’t got people that can defend the rim,” McDaniels said. "We’re still more athletic than them and just got to be able to finish when we do.”
Jokic had 24 points and 15 rebounds — all on the defensive end — while Murray scored 30 points. But Denver's dynamic duo shot a combined 2 of 12 for four points in the fourth quarter. Murray had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds but elected to pull up for a 2-point shot instead.
He missed.
“I was happy he took the two points,” Edwards said. “I thought he had a good look at a 3 when he first came off but yeah, he took the 2-pointer. I guess if he made it, we would have been in a free-throw situation. But yeah, I’m kind of happy he took the 2-pointer.”
Murray said he “didn't make enough shots tonight.”
"That’s really about it,” he added. "We all could have played better. It’s not all on one person, that’s just the way the game goes sometimes. They played hard as well. It was a good game. I thought we had the game in our hands, but we just didn’t make enough shots, in my opinion.”
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Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon (32) and Bruce Brown (11) during the second half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Monday, April 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Minnesota Timberwolves Jaden McDaniels (3) drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) during the second half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Monday, April 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) CORRECTION Correct to Julius Randle in stead of Julius Randle.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Tuesday that he had survived a vote on his leadership among his own party’s lawmakers, after recent slumps in the polls prompted speculation he might be ousted.
The vote was held behind closed doors during a routine meeting of Luxon’s center-right National Party lawmakers and was sought by the Prime Minister himself. Luxon emerged afterward to read a brief statement announcing the vote and departed without taking questions from reporters.
“The last week, there has been intense media speculation about my leadership,” Luxon said, adding that he had called for a confidence vote “to put that media speculation to rest.”
His party caucus had “answered clearly and decisively,” the Prime Minister said. “It has backed my leadership.”
He did not say that the vote had been unanimous. Nicola Willis, the party's deputy leader, said later Tuesday that vote had been a secret ballot with only scrutineers knowing the final tally, but that Luxon must have received a majority.
The confidence vote happened months ahead of New Zealand’s next national election, scheduled for Nov. 7. Recent drops in the polls for National had prompted speculation from analysts that he would face a leadership challenge.
That was seen by party lawmakers as an unwelcome distraction in an election year for National, which has governed New Zealand in a right-wing coalition government since the 2023 vote. Luxon, a former airline executive who entered Parliament in 2000, has led the party since 2021.
While two recent New Zealand prime ministers — National's John Key and Labour's Jacinda Ardern — have voluntarily quit the post, it would have been extremely unusual for lawmakers to oust a sitting prime minister.
Luxon blamed reports of unrest within his party's ranks on news outlets, but one political poll released days ago appeared to have made a discussion of leadership unavoidable. The 1News-Verian poll suggested slumping support for Luxon and for National in a hypothetical election.
The levels of support in the most recent poll implied the right-wing bloc led by his party could come in behind the left-wing bloc led by Labour if an election were held immediately, though the vote won’t occur for more than another six months.
“If the media want to keep focusing on speculation and rumor, I am not going to engage,” Luxon said Tuesday.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, right, speaks to reporters at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, after a vote among his own lawmakers about his leadership of the National Party, on Tuesday. April 21 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
FILE - New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks during Question Time at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay, File)
FILE - New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announces a cabinet reshuffle at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay, File)
