Nuggets’ Christian Braun happily takes technical foul after posterizing Jaden McDaniels in Game 5

The Denver Nuggets looked to stay alive in the playoffs as they hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves at Ball Arena in Game 5 of their first-round series on Monday.

After a tight first half, the Nuggets pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Timberwolves, 37-24. Their offensive surge was punctuated by Christian Braun’s poster dunk over Jaden McDaniels.

Nikola Jokic issued a pocket pass to Braun, who then went up for the double-handed slam, brushing off McDaniel’s challenge and stirring the home crowd into a frenzy.

Christian Braun with the POSTER over Jaden McDaniels, points at him, and collects the technical foul afterwards pic.twitter.com/IIeXyBX8Ou

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Afterward, Braun pointed at McDaniels and was whistled for a technical foul. Braun happily took it, knowing that he had just placed McDaniels in a body bag. The Nuggets were up by 21 points at that point, 90-69.

There is no love lost between the Nuggets and McDaniels. Jokic confronted McDaniels at the end of Game 4 after making a dunk in the last second, even though the outcome had already been settled. McDaniels also blasted the Nuggets after Game 2 for being “bad defenders.”

Clearly, the 25-year-old Braun relished the payback against the 25-year-old McDaniels, who had been winning the psychological war against the Nuggets.

The rivalry between Denver and Minnesota is deepening, which is good for the NBA. The Nuggets eliminated the Timberwolves in the second round in seven games in 2024.

As of writing, the Nuggets are still ahead of the Timberwolves by a comfortable margin in the fourth quarter. Braun has nine points, two rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

McDaniels, meanwhile, has 13 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one block.

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