WHY TIMBERWOLVES' JULIUS RANDLE IS MAKING NIKOLA JOKIC’S LIFE DIFFICULT THIS SERIES
Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets head to Minnesota tied 1-1. We analyse the shooting woes, defensive battles, and Game 3 predictions.
Nikola Jokic faced a variety of defensive looks during the first two games of Denver’s opening-round series against Minnesota.
One moment that stuck out was captured in a video on X, showing Jokic absorbing repeated pokes to his torso from Timberwolves forward Julius Randle while trying to post him up.
Despite the physicality of Jokic taking some pretty hard pokes, he managed to stay composed. It’s hard not to question the referees’ decisions, though, especially since no fouls were called on that sequence. The Timberwolves ended the game with 30 fouls called against them, whereas the Nuggets had only 24.
In Game 2, Jokic shot 8-for-20 from the field, ending with 24 points, 15 boards, and eight assists, plus a flawless 7-for-7 at the free throw line.
On the defensive side, Jokic gave credit to Rudy Gobert for his strong showing against him in Game 2. While many struggled to contain Jokic, Gobert seemed to turn it into a fairly straightforward task, forcing the three-time MVP into difficult shots throughout.
Jokic praised Gobert’s defence, describing him as a “big log” who can reach the ball from almost any angle, making his presence felt everywhere on the court. Jokic also mentioned how Gobert’s defence extended all the way to the three-point line, which was evident since Jokic made just one out of seven attempts from beyond the arc.
It’s worth noting that Gobert’s solid defensive game came on a day when he was overlooked for Defensive Player of the Year honours, finishing fourth behind the likes of Victor Wembanyama and others.
For most of the second half, Gobert dealt with foul trouble, leading Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid to rotate on guarding Jokic, each with varying degrees of success.
In the end, Minnesota managed to close out the game, with Jokic unable to find his rhythm late, missing his usual floaters, which kept the series tied heading into Game 3.
Now, with the win under their belt, the Timberwolves head back to Minnesota carrying some momentum as the series shifts back home for Games 3 and 4.
The next chapter kicks off on Thursday, April 26, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, live on Amazon Prime. The Target Centre is expected to be rocking, with a passionate crowd eager to see how the battle unfolds.
CHRIS WEIDMAN DELIVERS HARSH REALITY CHECK AHEAD OF CONOR MCGREGOR’S POTENTIAL RETURN
Chris Weidman warns McGregor of the mental and physical challenges of returning from a leg break ahead of a rumoured UFC 329 comeback.
Chris Weidman has quite a unique perspective when it comes to broken legs.
Not only has he been on the receiving end, but he’s also dealt them out himself. That experience shapes his expectations for Conor McGregor as the former two-division UFC champ prepares for a comeback, rumoured to be at UFC 329 during International Fight Week in Las Vegas this summer.
“He’s currently in the drug-testing pool,” Weidman mentioned on UFC on Paramount’s YouTube channel. “If you’re coming off a break, re-entering that pool, it makes sense to fight. Otherwise, you risk feeling worse than before for no real reason. So yeah, I think he’ll be fighting. The leg break happened in 2021, so there’s been some time to heal, but I will say this: the first fight back, and I speak from a similar injury, it’s tough to be the guy you used to be.”
Weidman’s leg snapped in two at UFC 261 in April 2021, just a few months before McGregor suffered a similar injury at UFC 264. Now 41, Weidman made a comeback in 2023, fought three more times, and then retired, though he later tried to work with some other fighters.
McGregor, who is 37, hasn’t competed since breaking his leg, despite rattling off a few more injuries along the way.
“I hope things go well for him,” Weidman said. “When I was in camp, throwing kicks aggressively to get comfortable again, I felt fine. But in my first fight back, after taking kicks, when it came time to throw a kick in return, which was instinctive before, my body just wouldn’t let me. When you go through something traumatic like that, it really messes with your mind.”
As a reminder, McGregor is 22-6 and last fought in back-to-back defeats to longtime rival Dustin Poirier.
WHY MICHAEL JORDAN PREFERS VICTORY LANE CHATS OVER HIS POLISHED NBC BASKETBALL SEGMENTS
Is Michael Jordan more authentic on Fox NASCAR coverage than NBC NBA? We break down the scripted vs. candid reality of his 2026.
Somewhere in the infield of Kansas Speedway on a Sunday afternoon, Michael Jordan was wrestling with what he’d just witnessed.
“This kid is on fire,” Jordan said after Tyler Reddick claimed the AdventHealth 400, his fifth win in nine races. “I don’t even know what to say. I don’t know if I can cool him down. He is unbelievable.”
The person on the other end of the microphone wasn’t from NBC, where Jordan holds a “special contributor” role this season. Instead, it was Fox’s Jamie Little, capturing these spontaneous reactions in victory lane. That’s notable, considering NBC was supposed to be the main platform for Jordan’s on-camera comments about sports this year.
And yet, there he was, delivering what’s become a familiar post-race monologue to Little, who has interviewed him more often during 2026 NASCAR coverage than NBC managed throughout an entire basketball season.
That same Sunday evening marked the NBA Playoffs’ first full day on NBC, featuring two first-round games: Pistons vs. Magic and Spurs vs. Trail Blazers. In theory, this was the perfect moment for NBC’s Jordan deal to shine.
Instead, the network’s partnership with Jordan has mostly meant one pre-recorded interview with Mike Tirico, chopped into brief segments branded as “MJ: Insights to Excellence". Even Tirico acknowledged earlier this year that this wasn’t quite what viewers expected. Since October, Jordan’s appearances on NBC total roughly 16 minutes, spread thin. Meanwhile, he has been far more open and immediate in a single victory-lane chat with Little than across months of basketball coverage on the network that invested heavily to have him.
To give NBC some credit, the situations aren’t entirely comparable. Jordan shows up at races because he owns a team, while Little earned her access by building relationships over two years, not due to any NBC lapse. A controlled, pre-taped arrangement was almost certainly always part of the plan, and you wouldn’t get unrehearsed Jordan just by signing a big check.
But that’s exactly the irony. NBC paid for a “special contributor", announced it to the world, and allowed people to imagine what that meant. What they received instead were a handful of short, scripted segments wrapped in a polished “MJ: Insights to Excellence” banner. Meanwhile, the more authentic, candid Michael Jordan of 2026 emerges in victory lane at Kansas Speedway, chatting freely with a Fox reporter each time Tyler Reddick crosses the finish line first.
Jordan’s deal with NBC remains in place, and the playoffs are ongoing. He’ll likely sit down again with Tirico this spring and offer something noteworthy about basketball, and that will be fine. But NBC marketed one version of Jordan that they haven’t quite delivered, while Fox seems to have captured something a bit closer to the real deal.
