Timberwolves vs Nuggets Game 1 Final Score: Nuggets Win 116-105, Nuggets Lead 1-0

Updated Oct 7, 2026, 6:05 AM ET

NBA Playoffs · Western conference first round

Minnesota TimberwolvesTimberwolves

Playoffs 0-1 · Away

105–116

Final

Saturday, April 18, 2026

Denver NuggetsNuggets

Playoffs 1-0 · Home

2026 West First Round · Nuggets lead 1-0

Timberwolves vs Nuggets Game 1 final: the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-105 on April 18, 2026 at Ball Arena. Nuggets lead 1-0 after Game 1.

Timberwolves vs Nuggets Game Info

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026
Tip-off: 3:30 PM ET / 12:30 PM PT
TV / Stream: Local: DAZN (Timberwolves)
Arena: Ball Arena, Denver
Season: 2025-26 NBA Season

Score by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	T
Timberwolves	33	29	17	26	105
Nuggets	23	39	29	25	116

Timberwolves vs Nuggets Recap

The Nuggets lead the series 1-0.

Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 30 points. Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 22 points and 7 assists.

The Nuggets did the damage in the 3rd quarter, winning that period by 12.

Top Performers

Timberwolves

Nuggets

Team Stats

Timberwolves	Stat	Nuggets
40-87	Field Goals	38-87
46.0%	FG %	43.7%
11-34	3-Pointers	10-36
32.4%	3P %	27.8%
14-19	Free Throws	30-33
73.7%	FT %	90.9%
43	Rebounds	47
7	Off. Rebounds	8
21	Assists	27
7	Steals	7
3	Blocks	1
13	Turnovers	13
25	Fouls	17
12	Biggest Lead	15

Four Factors

Team	Effective FG%	Turnover %	Off. rebound %	FT rate (FTM/FGA)
Timberwolves	52.3%	12.0%	15.2%	0.161
Nuggets	49.4%	11.4%	18.2%	0.345

Dean Oliver's four factors decide most games: shooting, turnovers, offensive rebounding and free throws. Better side highlighted.

Timberwolves vs Nuggets Box Score

Minnesota Timberwolves

Player	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG	3PT	FT	+/-
Donte DiVincenzo G	31	12	4	2	2	0	1	4-9	4-7	0-0	0
Jaden McDaniels F	33	16	8	3	0	0	1	6-14	0-4	4-4	-17
Julius Randle FC	31	16	7	2	0	0	1	7-16	0-3	2-2	-9
Anthony Edwards G	38	22	9	7	0	3	3	7-19	2-9	6-7	-3
Rudy Gobert C	37	17	10	2	1	0	3	8-9	0-0	1-5	-8
Bench
Ayo Dosunmu G	27	14	0	1	1	0	1	5-10	3-7	1-1	-8
Naz Reid CF	17	5	3	2	1	0	2	2-6	1-2	0-0	-7
Bones Hyland G	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0-3	0-1	0-0	-3
Kyle Anderson F	7	0	0	0	1	0	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0
Mike Conley G	10	3	1	2	1	0	0	1-1	1-1	0-0	0

Denver Nuggets

Player	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG	3PT	FT	+/-
Nikola Jokić C	40	25	13	11	1	0	5	11-19	2-7	1-1	+9
Aaron Gordon F	29	17	8	3	0	0	1	5-10	1-5	6-8	+8
Jamal Murray G	39	30	5	7	0	0	2	7-22	0-8	16-16	+13
Christian Braun G	35	12	8	1	0	0	0	4-10	2-3	2-2	0
Cameron Johnson F	33	12	0	1	0	0	1	5-12	2-7	0-0	+5
Bench
Tim Hardaway Jr. GF	24	7	3	1	1	1	2	2-6	1-3	2-2	+9
Bruce Brown GF	21	8	7	3	5	0	1	3-7	1-2	1-1	+7
Spencer Jones F	9	5	0	0	0	0	0	1-1	1-1	2-3	+2
Jonas Valanciunas C	7	0	3	0	0	0	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	+2

Game Flow

Nuggets leadTimberwolves lead

Lead changes: 8
Times tied: 7
Nuggets largest lead: 15
Timberwolves largest lead: 12

Play-by-Play

Scoring plays, newest first. Score shown Timberwolves-Nuggets.

1st Quarter 31 scoring plays

0:54TimberwolvesAyo Dosunmu +233-23
1:32TimberwolvesAyo Dosunmu +131-23
2:02NuggetsAaron Gordon +130-23
2:39TimberwolvesAyo Dosunmu +330-22
3:00NuggetsTim Hardaway Jr. +227-22
3:41NuggetsChristian Braun +227-20
4:05NuggetsChristian Braun +327-18
4:26TimberwolvesNaz Reid +227-15
4:45TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +225-15
5:01NuggetsNikola Jokić +323-15
5:40TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +223-12
6:28TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +321-12
6:55TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +218-12
7:07TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +216-12
7:20NuggetsAaron Gordon +114-12
7:20NuggetsAaron Gordon +114-11
8:19TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +114-10
8:19TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +113-10
8:39NuggetsCameron Johnson +312-10
8:54TimberwolvesJulius Randle +212-7
9:15NuggetsJamal Murray +110-7
9:15NuggetsJamal Murray +110-6
9:15NuggetsJamal Murray +110-5
9:26TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +210-4
9:55TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +18-4
9:55TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +17-4
10:33TimberwolvesDonte DiVincenzo +36-4
10:44NuggetsCameron Johnson +23-4
11:13TimberwolvesDonte DiVincenzo +33-2
11:25NuggetsAaron Gordon +10-2
11:25NuggetsAaron Gordon +10-1

2nd Quarter 37 scoring plays

0:06TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +262-62
0:22NuggetsChristian Braun +360-62
0:35TimberwolvesDonte DiVincenzo +360-59
0:53NuggetsJamal Murray +157-59
0:53NuggetsJamal Murray +157-58
1:10TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +257-57
1:32NuggetsJamal Murray +255-57
1:44TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +255-55
1:54NuggetsJamal Murray +153-55
1:54NuggetsJamal Murray +153-54
2:17NuggetsSpencer Jones +353-53
2:37TimberwolvesJulius Randle +253-50
3:59TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +251-50
4:13NuggetsNikola Jokić +349-50
4:24TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +149-47
4:24TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +148-47
4:41NuggetsSpencer Jones +147-47
4:41NuggetsSpencer Jones +147-47
5:23NuggetsCameron Johnson +347-45
5:53NuggetsCameron Johnson +247-42
6:05TimberwolvesJulius Randle +147-40
6:05TimberwolvesJulius Randle +146-40
6:27TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +245-40
7:09NuggetsJamal Murray +143-40
7:09NuggetsJamal Murray +143-39
7:43NuggetsJamal Murray +143-38
7:43NuggetsJamal Murray +143-37
8:01TimberwolvesAyo Dosunmu +343-36
8:16NuggetsJamal Murray +240-36
8:29TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +240-34
8:42NuggetsBruce Brown +138-34
8:42NuggetsBruce Brown +238-33
9:24NuggetsJamal Murray +238-31
9:44TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +238-29
10:34NuggetsTim Hardaway Jr. +336-29
10:56TimberwolvesNaz Reid +336-26
11:45NuggetsBruce Brown +333-26

3rd Quarter 25 scoring plays

0:04NuggetsNikola Jokić +279-91
0:43TimberwolvesMike Conley +379-89
1:16TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +276-89
1:38NuggetsNikola Jokić +274-89
1:58NuggetsNikola Jokić +274-87
2:10TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +174-85
2:10TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +173-85
3:15TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +272-85
3:35NuggetsJamal Murray +270-85
3:53NuggetsJamal Murray +170-83
3:56TimberwolvesJaden McDaniels +270-82
4:15NuggetsAaron Gordon +268-82
4:44NuggetsJamal Murray +168-80
4:44NuggetsJamal Murray +268-79
6:17NuggetsJamal Murray +168-77
6:17NuggetsJamal Murray +168-76
6:48NuggetsAaron Gordon +368-75
7:07NuggetsNikola Jokić +268-72
7:32NuggetsAaron Gordon +268-70
8:15TimberwolvesDonte DiVincenzo +368-68
8:35TimberwolvesJulius Randle +265-68
9:54TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +163-68
10:04NuggetsNikola Jokić +262-68
10:38NuggetsJamal Murray +262-66
11:42NuggetsNikola Jokić +262-64

4th Quarter 29 scoring plays

0:30TimberwolvesJulius Randle +2105-116
0:34NuggetsTim Hardaway Jr. +1103-116
0:34NuggetsTim Hardaway Jr. +1103-115
0:39TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +2103-114
0:44NuggetsNikola Jokić +2101-114
0:54NuggetsCameron Johnson +2101-112
1:28NuggetsAaron Gordon +1101-110
1:39NuggetsJamal Murray +1101-109
1:50NuggetsAaron Gordon +2101-108
3:05TimberwolvesJulius Randle +2101-106
3:57TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +199-106
3:57TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +198-106
4:10NuggetsBruce Brown +297-106
4:55TimberwolvesJulius Randle +297-104
5:12NuggetsChristian Braun +195-104
5:12NuggetsChristian Braun +195-103
5:45NuggetsNikola Jokić +295-102
6:09NuggetsNikola Jokić +195-100
6:09NuggetsNikola Jokić +295-99
6:23TimberwolvesAyo Dosunmu +295-97
7:06TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +293-97
7:30NuggetsChristian Braun +291-97
7:46TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +291-95
8:15NuggetsAaron Gordon +289-95
8:32TimberwolvesAnthony Edwards +389-93
8:58TimberwolvesAyo Dosunmu +386-93
10:40NuggetsJamal Murray +283-93
10:58TimberwolvesRudy Gobert +283-91
11:31TimberwolvesJulius Randle +281-91

Next for the Timberwolves

West Conference Semifinals: Spurs vs Timberwolves · Spurs win 4-2

Spurs vs Timberwolves series ›

Nuggets vs Timberwolves: Series So Far

Game	Date	Matchup	Result	Top scorer
Game 1	Apr 18	Timberwolves @ Nuggets	Nuggets 116-105	Jamal Murray 30
Game 2	Apr 20	Timberwolves @ Nuggets	Timberwolves 119-114	Jamal Murray 30
Game 3	Apr 23	Nuggets @ Timberwolves	Timberwolves 113-96	Nikola Jokić 27
Game 4	Apr 25	Nuggets @ Timberwolves	Timberwolves 112-96	Ayo Dosunmu 43
Game 5	Apr 27	Timberwolves @ Nuggets	Nuggets 125-113	Julius Randle 27
Game 6	Apr 30	Nuggets @ Timberwolves	Timberwolves 110-98	Jaden McDaniels 32

Full series page ›

Series Leaders

Nuggets

Nikola Jokić6 GP25.8PTS13.2REB9.5AST
Jamal Murray6 GP23.7PTS5.0REB5.7AST
Cameron Johnson6 GP14.2PTS3.2REB2.3AST

Timberwolves

Ayo Dosunmu5 GP21.8PTS2.8REB4.0AST
Julius Randle6 GP19.2PTS7.3REB4.2AST
Anthony Edwards4 GP18.5PTS6.8REB3.0AST

Per-game averages in this series, top three scorers per team.

More NBA Games on Apr 18, 2026

Toronto Raptors113
Cleveland Cavaliers126
FinalBox score ›
Atlanta Hawks102
New York Knicks113
FinalBox score ›
Houston Rockets98
Los Angeles Lakers107
FinalBox score ›

That covers Timberwolves vs Nuggets: score, leaders and box score above. Next: Timberwolves visit the Nuggets May 2; Nuggets host the Timberwolves May 2.

Timberwolves vs Nuggets FAQs

Who won Timberwolves vs Nuggets Game 1?

The Denver Nuggets won 116-105 on April 18, 2026. Nuggets lead 1-0 after Game 1.

What is the Timberwolves vs Nuggets series score?

Nuggets lead 1-0 in the 2026 West First Round.

Who was the top scorer in Timberwolves vs Nuggets?

Anthony Edwards scored 22 for the Timberwolves. Jamal Murray scored 30 for the Nuggets.