The Wolves bothered stars Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray into an ugly 12-of-43 (2-for-15 3-pointers) for a combined 43 points. And without rotation pillars Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson due to injury, there wasn’t enough firepower left to challenge Minnesota. The Wolves went wire-to-wire, leading by as much as 27 points.

Jaden McDaniels called out Denver's stars after Game 2, and the Wolves proved him right by bulldozing the Nuggets 113-96 in Game 3 Thursday night in Minneapolis

Alas, while the mathematical certainty of relegation still hurt Wolves fans, there is still another month of this to endure. "Work has been underway since my arrival in December," wrote the still-new executive chairman Nathan Shi in a Monday night statement on the club's website.