Never underestimate the heart of a champion. The Nuggets, who have lost two home games in a row, are in adversity, and they must win the third game or be basically hopeless from falling behind 3-0. Adversity forced the strongest version of the Nuggets, they were both offensive and defensive, and they were all soldiers. On May 11, Beijing time, the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves 117-90 away. Jokic filled the stats column with 24 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Murray ushered in a resurgence with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Porter Jr. regained the feeling of playing the Lakers in the first round, turned on the indiscriminate pull-up jump shot mode, and scored 21 points and 4 rebounds. Gordon and Pope both scored in double figures. The Nuggets also suppressed the Timberwolves on the defensive end, limiting the Timberwolves' three main players, Edwards, Towns and Gobert.
Jokic perfectly blocked the interior, and Downs only scored 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in this game, shooting 4-of-7 and 4-of-5 from three-point range, which means that Downs did not score in a basket game. Gobert finished with just six points and four rebounds, shooting 3-of-5. The Twin Towers have been a big part of the Timberwolves' success this season, but they haven't been good at it this time. Naz Reed didn't play as well as he should off the bench, finishing with just seven points and one rebound on 2-of-7 shooting.
In this game, the Nuggets had a 40-32 rebounding advantage and a 38-34 advantage in interior scoring. In Game 1, the Timberwolves had a 42-34 rebounding advantage and a 52-42 advantage in interior scoring. In the second game, although the Timberwolves lost to the Nuggets 42-50 in rebounding, they had a clear advantage of 52-34 in interior scoring.
The battle for the interior is very crucial, and the Nuggets have shown stronger fighting in this battle. Jokic, as the core, led by example, and fought hand-to-hand with the Timberwolves big men on the inside.
In the previous two games, his offensive efficiency was suppressed, shooting less than 45% from the field, and in this game he shot 10-of-18 from the field and shot 55.6% from the field, regaining the feeling of shooting above 50% in the first round against the Lakers.
After adapting to the first two games, Jokic was more determined on offense this time, and gained the upper hand in the process of going head-to-head with the Timberwolves. It is worth mentioning that after the game, coach Malone awarded Jokic the golden chain that symbolizes the team's best defensive performance in a single game. Gordon, Pope and Braun often receive gold chains, and this time Jokic also received a prize from the team's internal recognition. Jokic, who was just crowned regular season MVP for the third time, proved his worth.
When the Timberwolves' interior line can't exert its power, it will inevitably affect Edwards. After all, Huazi needs to break through space, and he only scored 19 points in this game, and he didn't score 20 points for the second time in this year's playoffs, and he scored 43 and 27 points in the first two games of this series. Huazi also made 5 turnovers.
Jokic has the upper hand in the interior battle, and Murray, who is on the cusp, has the upper hand in the outside matchup with Edwards. Murray had a terrible run in the first two games, with just 17 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists on 6-of-14 shooting in the first. In the second game, he shot 3-of-18 and scored 8 points, 13 rebounds and 2 assists. Murray has also been widely criticized for throwing warm babies into the court, and there was speculation that he could be suspended. However, the league eventually got on the net and only fined him $100,000 and did not impose a suspension.
In this game, Murray was booed by the Timberwolves fans at the scene when he warmed up. But he ushered in a big rebound in a hostile environment. Murray is the kind of player who puts pressure on him and rebounds more strongly, just like the fifth game of the Lakers in the first round, he may have been out due to injury, but he still returned to the game, and finally scored 32 points and 7 assists, helping the Nuggets narrow defeat the Lakers 108-106, and also scored a killer shot.
In this game, Murray helped the Nuggets set the tone in the first half, and he scored 18 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists on 8-of-13 shooting. He got back to the playoff version, after all, he's one of the best players in the league to play the playoffs.
At the post-match press conference, Murray was not suspended and his outstanding performance in this game became a topic of conversation. Timberwolves coach Finch admits he never expected Murray to be suspended: "I never expected them [the league] to ban Murray, never. Whether or not Murray is suspended or not, it doesn't matter to me now. ”
This time, the Yomu combination is back to normal, and the other three people who started Porter Jr., Gordon and Pope are also in place. The defending champions played their best performance since the playoffs this year. "I feel like our starting line-up set the tone for the game from the moment we jumped the ball and we started well and we kept it up. That's the Denver Nuggets-style game, and it's the first time I've seen them play like that for the entire four quarters of this series. Coach Malone said after the game.
The Nuggets pulled one back, but they are still down 2-1 and the initiative is still in the hands of the Timberwolves. Of course, because of the Nuggets' strong counterattack, this round of the series has renewed suspense.