MINNEAPOLIS — Less than four minutes into Sunday's game in Denver, Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels stepped in front of Nuggets star Aaron Gordon, who was breaking towards the hoop for an easy dunk.
While elevating, Gordon was met by a leaping McDaniels, who swatted away the slam and left Denver with an empty possession. It was McDaniels' 10th block of the series, and was one of several defensive highlights that helped secure the Wolves a spot in the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 20 years.
While postseason play doesn't factor into regular-season accolades, it proved why the fourth-year forward was deserving of a spot on the NBA's All-Defensive Team. On Tuesday, the league agreed as he was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
Teammate Rudy Gobert, who was recently named the league's Defensive Player of the Year, was selected to the All-Defensive First Team, making the pair the first Wolves teammates to ever be named to the All-Defensive teams in the same season.
Defensive awards are nothing new for Gobert, who has the most Defensive Player of the Year awards of anyone not named Dikembe Mutombo or Ben Wallace. This is the seventh time he's been named to the All-Defensive First Team and he was this year's only unanimous selection.
For McDaniels, this is the first time he's been an All-Defensive selection. Since being drafted by Wolves, McDaniels has compiled 232 blocks to go with 224 steals, making him the only player from the 2020 draft class to eclipse 200 in both categories. This season, the Wolves averaged 8.1 steals per game and 14.2 turnovers while he was on the floor. Without him, Minnesota averaged 6.7 steals and 13.2 turnovers.
The defensive duo will have a tall order in the Western Conference Finals as they go up against the seventh-ranked offense in the league. The Dallas Mavericks averaged 117.9 points during the regular season, but have been held to 106.5 points per game in the postseason. Game 1 of the series tips off Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Minneapolis.
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