Aaron Gordon makes feelings known on teams throwing games for playoff seeding

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon pushed back on the idea that Denver deliberately maneuvered its place in the standings to dodge the Minnesota Timberwolves — the team that knocked them out last postseason — and dismissed the notion of manipulating wins and losses to dictate playoff seeding.

In a CBS interview on Wednesday shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Nuggets beat reporter Joel Rush, Gordon was asked if Denver purposely avoided drawing the Timberwolves in Round 1. The Nuggets ended the season 50-32, locking up the No. 4 seed — just one win better than the 49-33 Timberwolves, who landed at No. 6.

With how tight the Western Conference standings were, the playoff bracket wasn’t settled until the final day of the season, but Aaron Gordon was adamant: The Nuggets aren’t running from anyone. The forward also frowned upon teams tanking their games for postseason benefit.

“That’s always been so confusing to me, actually,” Gordon said. “I’m not sure if that’s actually a thing in the NBA or that’s like a conspiracy … where people are like trying to strategically win and lose so they can like jockey up and down depending on matchups. I’m sure it is.

“My thing is just line them up and knock them down. And that’s how I’ve always been. I think if you’re ducking smoke, the game gods come back to bite you in the a**.”

Aaron Gordon’s Nuggets went winless against Minnesota during the regular season after falling to the Wolves in seven games in the second round of last year’s playoffs.

Now, the Nuggets are set to face the LA Clippers in the first round, while the Timberwolves will take on the LA Lakers.

Aaron Gordon expected to be Nuggets’ main defender on Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard put together a strong regular season, posting averages of 21.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists over 37 games. In his three matchups against Denver, he logged 21.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 3.3 apg.

The defensive assignment of slowing Leonard will largely fall to Aaron Gordon, who, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic, is built for the challenge.

“Expect to see a ton of Aaron Gordon as Leonard’s primary defender,” Jones wrote. “Gordon is the one Denver player with the length, athleticism, discipline and strength to guard Leonard, and also deal with his ability to be cerebral with shot fakes in the lane.”

The regular season series between Denver and LA was split 2-2, but the Nuggets hold homecourt advantage going into Round 1 as the West’s No. 4 seed.

About the author

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John Ezekiel Hirro is an experienced NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda, with over five years in the field as a news correspondent, sports writer, and Editor-in-Chief. His sports writing career began in high school, where he garnered numerous accolades, including being named the national sports writing champion in 2016.

He earned his journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines in 2024 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Varsitarian, the university’s official student publication, for four years—the longest in history.

A passionate basketball enthusiast, he became a fan of the OKC Thunder during the Russ-KD-Harden era. Russell Westbrook, his all-time favorite athlete, impressed him by stepping up as MVP after Kevin Durant’s departure. His current favorite players include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who he believes are the future of the OKC franchise.

He excels in game analysis and rapid news story turnaround, drawing inspiration from the journalistic styles of Woj and Shams. He emphasizes thorough research to ensure accuracy in his articles. One of his most memorable moments is Russell Westbrook breaking Oscar Robertson’s record with his 42nd triple-double and securing a 106-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Outside of writing, he enjoys listening to music and creating Spotify playlists.

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