A 3-1 deficit isn’t a death sentence, especially for these Nuggets, but a seven-game series in the first round makes the path back to the Finals much more arduous.

Here are three keys to the Nuggets avoiding a 3-1 hole Saturday:

1. 3-kola

It’s hard to see the Timberwolves abandoning a strategy that’s worked so well through three games on Saturday. Minnesota has been willing to turn Nikola Jokic into a jump shooter, while Rudy Gobert prioritizes contesting Jokic’s midrange and post game. Heading into a massive Game 4, Jokic is 5 for 24 (20.8%) from 3-point range. He took 10 attempts Thursday, making two. Despite a healthy diet of uncontested looks, eight of his first nine attempts from distance rimmed out. It’s not like he’s missing by much. He made his final 3 with Denver down 20 in the middle of the fourth quarter. Jokic is going to have to keep taking and start making 3s at his normal clip to force Minnesota to change its defensive approach. It’s a dangerous game to play at this rate, but it’s Denver’s best bet, as long as Jokic is confident in his ability to knock them down. He acknowledged the need to hit some more 3s after Thursday’s loss.

“Definitely it’s going to help us, and definitely it’s going to help the whole team, so yes, it’s important,” Jokic said.

2. A little help

Christian Braun and Cam Johnson can help themselves by helping others.

“To get those guys going, they have to screen better,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said Wednesday night. “If you can free up your best players, that’s going to bring rotations. That’s going to bring a low man. That leads to ball-movement 3s, things of that nature. I know they’re frustrated. Everybody’s frustrated today. Our two best players, from the field, obviously really struggled.”

Johnson is lethal in catch-and-shoot situations when defenses are stuck in rotations. Braun is at his best in the half-court offense in split actions, where he sets an off-ball screen and slips to the rim where he often receives an assist from Jokic. Neither of those sources of easy offense were present Thursday. Braun missed all four of his shots from the field, a 3-pointer and a trio of layups, and scored his two points from the line. Johnson missed all three of his 3s and did make a shot from the field until Denver was down 24 in the third quarter. More production from the wings will go a long way to regaining home-court advantage.

“We’ve got to hold our spots better,” Braun said after Friday’s light practice at Target Center. “We’ve got to screen better. We’ve got to make it easier on those guys, and we didn’t do a very good job of getting to our screens, actually hitting people, getting guys open.”

3. If pre- and post-game were any indication, the Nuggets can’t count on having Peyton Watson back for Game 4. Watson’s pregame warmup consisted almost exclusively of stationary shooting. There was no burst or explosion displayed. The Nuggets would need that from Watson to make a meaningful impact against Anthony Edwards. After the game, Jokic said he knew Gordon, who is listed as questionable for Game 4, wasn’t going to play two days ago, which ran counter to what Adelman said pregame. If Jokic is telling the truth, it sounds like a more legitimate injury than a calf that simply didn’t loosen up over the two days off between Games 2 and 3. Gordon and Watson were both with the trainers when media was let in the gym following practice. Watson again went through a light workout before leaving the arena, while Gordon was part of Denver’s walk through, according to Adelman. Unless Watson’s been doing more explosive work behind the scenes or Jokic misspoke, it looks like Zeke Nnaji and Julian Strawther will have to be ready to fill a void. Nnaji was up to the task, making both his shots from the field and all but one of his six free throws to score 10 points, while grabbing three rebounds. The Nuggets won his 16-plus minutes by two points. Strawther didn’t score as efficiently, scoring six points on seven shots, but he was net neutral in 14 minutes. If Denver is without Gordon and Watson in Game 4, Nnaji and Strawther can’t be negatives if the Nuggets want to win.