Nuggets Out in First Round After Six-Game Loss to Timberwolves

The Denver Nuggets lost Game 6 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, falling out of the playoffs in six games. The defeat ends the team’s quest to defend their championship and forces a reassessment of their roster moving forward.

Eddie Howe had been here before.

It was just last year when the Newcastle United head coach delivered a presentation to the club's owners and executives at an annual summit at Matfen Hall in Northumberland. sportnewz.click

Newcastle were on the cusp of ending a seven-decade wait for a major domestic trophy, by winning the League Cup, and on course to qualify for the Champions League at the time.

But this year's edition was a little different after Howe was asked "difficult" questions about his side's slide to 14th in the Premier League table.

Howe was upbeat on Friday as he reflected on the support he nonetheless felt at Thursday's meeting, but he repeatedly acknowledged how he needed to win games.

Following a torrid run of nine losses in 12 in the league, the head coach was "under no illusions" that results must improve in the final weeks of the campaign.

"Difficult runs force you to really re-evaluate everything and improve," he said at his news conference before the visit of Brighton.

"So, sometimes, the most disappointing moments are the times when you improve the most."

This summit had been in the diary for several months and was viewed as an opportunity to discuss infrastructure projects and recruitment plans, as well as the team's form.

With chief executive David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson in place, Howe feels Newcastle are in a better place to make smarter decisions and conclude deals more quickly than when they operated without a proper executive structure last summer.

The head coach also supports a shift in Newcastle's approach to transfers as the club widen their network, target younger signings and make better use of data.

Although Howe cautioned against signing "too many players," the squad will clearly look very different next season.

"Evolution, change and where the team goes is really exciting," he added.

"Because with some really smart additions, some really good recruitment decisions, you can improve really quickly - as we have seen teams do from last year to this year in the Premier League.

"Recruitment becomes the big focus and making sure we get that right."

Why Giants' Drew Gilbert nearly let fly ball hit the ground in sneaky move vs. Phillies originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

When Alec Bohm lofted a fly ball nearly 400 feet to centerfield with the winning run Adolis Garcia on third base, the game was essentially over.

The Philadelphia Phillies were going to walk it off on a sacrifice fly unless San Francisco Giants centerfielder Drew Gilbert could pull off something magical.

Gilbert went with a move many people hadn't seen before, one that had the potential to be brilliant.

It didn't work, but this was a low-odds situation anyway. It was worth a shot.

MORE: How son Justin Crawford made history like his father, Carl, with Don Mattingly

What did Drew Gilbert do?

Gilbert opted to catch the ball as close to the ground as possible.

Normally, an outfielder will catch the ball up above their shoulder. In this case, they'd try to get a quick running start to build momentum through a catch up high right into a throw toward home.

Gilbert knew he was too deep to have any chance of such a throw getting Garcia, so instead, he went for something tricky.

Why did Drew Gilbert do this?

The goal of Gilbert's approach was to get Garcia to leave third base early.

A runner would be used to the timing of the ball dropping into a glove up by the shoulders. That extra split-second could've gotten Garcia to bite.

Super sneaky move here by Drew Gilbert catching the fly ball as low as possible to try and get Adolis to bite and leave early on the tag up. Don't think i've ever seen that. pic.twitter.com/QqDn2lrgVr

— SoxOptimist (@OptimistSox) May 1, 2026

Garcia was likely patient in this situation, knowing that it was too deep to throw him out. No reason to risk even being close to leaving early.

With instant replay in place now, it's easier to potentially catch a guy leaving early in this case, so Gilbert did his best. It didn't work, but it was worth a shot.

The Denver Nuggets got embarrassed by a Minnesota Timberwolves team that's missed Anthony Edwards the last two games.

Nikola Jokic isn't running from the criticism sparked by the early playoff exit, though. He's taking accountability, something his coach ought to try, but we'll get to that in a moment.

"I needed to play better," Jokic said, per ESPN. "I must play better. I think I was getting in the rhythm from the third game, but I needed to play much better."

In an uncharacteristically inefficient series for Jokic, the three-time MVP shot only 39% from the field over the first four games before heating up in the final two.

Still, it's hard to put the blame on the big man's shoulders. Jokic's running mate, Jamal Murray, was a non-factor thanks to the suffocating defense of Jaden McDaniels. Aaron Gordon was hobbled by a soft-tissue injury after a largely unhealthy season. And then there's David Adelman, who got thoroughly outcoached by Chris Finch then used injuries as an excuse for Denver's epic flameout.

"I know it just ended, but I do feel like I can't really give you a complete answer [on the bigger picture] because it was an incomplete season," Adelman said. "It felt like that throughout. It felt like survival."

No one would blame Jokic for trying to escape that loser energy. But is he really on the move? Not if it's up to him.

Jokic, who has two years (including a player option for Year 2) and $121.9 million left on his contract, said postgame "I still want to be a Nugget forever." The 31-year-old is eligible for an extension of four years, $293 million this summer.

Denver will need a big reset if it hopes to compete for a title again in Jokic's prime. Jokic seems to be patient as the franchise navigates the challenge.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Is Nikola Jokic getting traded? Nuggets star addresses future after early playoff exit