Denver, CO
Timberwolves Stagger Denver Nuggets With a Game One Haymaker – DNVR Sports
Nikola Jokic – C+
We’re used to Jokić controlling the game. At his best, he is not just dominating but dictating, to the point where point totals are almost irrelevant when deciding the best player on the floor. That’s not what happened in Game One. The Wolves got a better start and outclassed the Nuggets in clutch time. Save for a short spell in the second quarter, Jokić was not in control. Frankly, he wasn’t good enough, even if he was the Nuggets’ best player.
Jokić finished with 32 points, but he struggled from the field. He got nine 3s up in the loss and only connected twice. After the game, Jokić said he was comfortable with the shots he took. But he didn’t look comfortable. He missed several shots inside and took a handful of 3s that felt more like concessions than adjustments. This would all be more tenable had the Nuggets gotten the ball popping, but Jokić turned it over seven times in the loss. Rudy Gobert even read and broke up the floater-zone alley-oop to Aaron Gordon. The Wolves were built to stymie this offense and succeeded in the opener.
Jamal Murray – D+
Murray got off to another slow start from the field in the second round. He was laboring out there, clearly affected by his left calf strain, which became most troublesome on defense. It’s one thing for Murray to go cold, but his inability to hang with Mike Conley was most concerning. On the other end, Anthony Edwards guarded Jamal Murray for much of the night, with Jaden McDaniels guarding Michael Porter Jr. instead. Murray sputtered out of the gate while Edwards was scorching hot. The juxtaposition was hard to ignore.
Murray would eventually find a rhythm on offense. He hit some big-time shots in the second half, but Denver had difficulty getting stops. Murray wasn’t alone in the defensive struggles. Still, his was arguably the most concerning, considering his injury. It won’t magically heal overnight. This is something he’ll have to navigate throughout this run.
Michael Porter Jr. – B+
Porter played with great energy out of the gate, helping keep Denver attached while the Wolves opened the game on a huge run. Murray and Jokić were ineffective initially, so Porter stepped up again. He worked hard on both sides of the ball, finishing with 20 points, four made 3s, three steals, and one block. His production faded in the third quarter. He missed some open looks, and Denver’s top options took the baton. It might have been enough had Denver been more effective on defense, but the defending champions don’t want to be considering hypotheticals. There’s a short runway now to get this thing off the ground.
Aaron Gordon – D
This is going to be a difficult series for Gordon. He’ll either guard up a position with Karl Anthony-Towns or down one for the shifty and explosive Edwards. He’s a great defender who is not particularly well suited for his primary assignments in this round. His inability to shoot and how it affects this matchup is also well-documented. Gobert is remarkably effective as a paint guardian with AG on the floor. The Nuggets got crunched during his minutes.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – D+
The Nuggets are seemingly content to endure Edwards’ onslaught if they shut off the other valves of Minnesota’s offense. That’s all good in theory, but Pope still has to go out and fall on the sword. He played hard as ever and found moments to be disruptive, but he can’t guard Ant. Oh, and lest it go unmentioned, the ‘other’ Wolves got theirs anyway. It was too easy for them to score in the second half.
Reggie Jackson – A-
Guess what wasn’t a problem in Game One? The Reggie Jackson minutes! He and MPJ flipped the game on its head in the first quarter. The Wolves opened up the game on an 18-4 run. Jackson took the floor and went to work on, wait for it — defense. He stripped Nickeil Alexander-Walker before feeding Porter for an alley-oop. He also knocked down a step back three. So much went wrong for the Nuggets, but the second unit’s hands are clean.
Christian Braun – A-
Braun did a good job defending Edwards. He was Denver’s most effective option for at least making life harder on the young superstar. So far, the Nuggets miss Bruce Brown’s offense more than anything. This iteration of the bench can defend. They all finished with a positive plus-minus.
Petyon Watson – C+
Watson grabbed four rebounds in roughly five minutes. His athleticism popped, and his approach was encouraging. The youngest player in the rotation brought the right mentality. He rebounded well, but he finished scoreless. He also air-balled a corner three. The Wolves aren’t worried about that shot, which might be why Watson was essentially cut out of the rotation.
Justin Holiday – B
Denver cruised with Holiday on the floor. He grabbed five rebounds, recorded a steal, and knocked down a three. He was on the wrong end of some Naz Reid brilliance in the fourth quarter, but ultimately, he was a +19 in roughly 16 minutes played.
Denver Broncos football is right around the corner.
As the 2026 World Cup nears its July 19 final, sports fans will soon begin turning their attention toward NFL training camps. The Broncos are set to open training camp on July 31 — two weeks from today — with the first of 14 practices open* to fans.
*Due to construction at the team’s facility, capacity at practice will be limited to approximately 1,000 fans, so (free) tickets are required to attend. Those tickets became available on July 1 and were quickly claimed. (Tickets are sometimes returned, though, so fans should check Ticketmaster for potential available tickets.)
Broncos training camp schedule
- Friday, July 31: 10 a.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 1: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 3: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 4: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 5: 10 a.m.
- Thursday, Aug. 6: 10 a.m.
- Friday, Aug. 7: 10 a.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 8: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 10: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 11: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 12: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 17: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 18: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 19: 10 a.m.
Fans should note that Denver’s practice schedule is subject to change due to weather. Be sure to check the team’s Twitter/X page for the latest updates on the practice schedule.
In addition to the open camp practices, the Broncos will play three preseason games in August, including two at home. After that, Denver will open the season against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football on Sept. 14.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
Pedal boats are back at City Park in Denver this week and they come in more shapes than just swans.
On Wednesday, the city of Denver opened its newest so-called Adventure Hub where visitors can rent gear to enjoy on Ferril Lake. That includes pedal boats shaped like swans, dragons, ducks and flamingos, as well as kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards. If you’d rather pedal on land instead of the water, the hub also has beach cruiser bikes and surrey bikes, which hold up to six people, available for rent.
City Park’s Adventure Hub is the second to open this year, following another at Washington Park in early June. Stephanie Figueroa, spokesperson for Denver Parks and Recreation, said rentals were supposed to start sooner at City Park, but that the electricity powering the point-of-sale system needed to be replaced after a fire at the historic bandshell there.
Water sport rentals cost range from $15 per hour for a SUP or single-person kayak to $35 per hour for swan, dragon and duck pedal boats, which fit up to four people. Bikes are similarly priced at $15 per hour for a single-person beach cruiser up to $45 per hour for a surrey “stretch limousine” for six riders. Figueroa noted that it is a flat fee and not a per-person charge.
“For families, as long as you fit, you can go,” she said, adding that gear is available for rent during the City Park Jazz series this summer.
This year marks the first time in at least two decades that Denver officials have managed gear rentals in City Park. The city ended its longtime contract with vendor Wheel Fun Rentals, which previously supplied things like swan pedal boats, in early 2026 after more than 20 years, Figueroa said.
Denver’s decision to take over operations was both more cost-effective and enabled the city to have more control over the experience, she added. Part of the impetus was a recent initiative called the Outdoor Adventure and Alternative Sports Strategic Plan, which sought to identify how Denver could offer more recreation opportunities to residents.
“That gave us the tools and knowledge to bring this in-house,” Figueroa said. “We have historically been amazing at indoor recreation and now we want to bring more of those opportunities outside.”
The Adventure Hub at City Park is open every day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., while the one at Washington Park is open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. They are both closed on city-observed holidays.
Another Adventure Hub, currently under construction at Ruby Hill, is expected to open late this year or early next, Figueroa said.
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Downtown Denver’s 16th Street FreeRide service is a staple. In fact, more than 2 million people hop on every year. Now, the service could be in jeopardy as RTD tries to figure out ways to fix its $200 million budget deficit.
“The demand for the FreeRide is at the highest level it’s been since the pandemic, and it’s the cheapest service that we run in terms of per passenger cost,” RTD board member Chris Nicholson said.
Nicholson was shocked when staff made budget suggestions that would end the FreeRide service, one of the highest ridership lines in the system.
Not to mention, 70% of RTD’s budget comes from sales tax, and downtown Denver is one of the biggest economic engines in the district.
“We are so caught up in the conversation about cuts across the entire region that that opportunity for conversation with the downtown community really didn’t get the chance to happen, and a lot of people were surprised to see that in there,” Nicholson added.
For him, the proposal is personal. Nicholson says he uses the service daily.
“When I need to go up to Union Station, when I need to go to meet somebody for coffee, when I need to get groceries,” Nicholson said.
CBS Colorado took a trip using FreeRide to hear from passengers.
“Gone out drinking, out eating, back and forth from the hotels,” said one passenger visiting downtown for a work conference. “So yeah, it’s been useful for that.”
While some riders use it for leisure, others say they depend on it.
“I use it for transportation to Union Station to get to and from doctor’s appointments to and from work is actually one of the reasons why I chose to live downtown,” downtown resident Jovelle Brown said.
And with millions of riders, the numbers speak for themselves.
“I’ll be at City Hall fighting against the proposal,” Brown added.
“We need to look at this from the perspective of the communities we operate in, and I think that those communities made their voices heard on this one,” Nicholson said.
A spokesperson for Mayor Mike Johnston’s office told CBS Colorado, “We are deeply sympathetic to RTD’s budget situation, but cutting a popular service used hundreds of thousands of times a month and millions of times a year isn’t the answer. As RTD itself noted recently, the 16th Street FreeRide is vital to supporting downtown and fills a crucial need in helping people navigate between Civic Center Station and Union Station at no cost. It’s the kind of thing we need more of if we want people to use public transportation, not less.
“We know RTD shares in our affection for this service as well as our belief that Denverites and visitors alike deserve cost-efficient and safe public transportation, and we look forward to working together as this process unfolds.”
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