On May 11, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and the Timberwolves played at home against the defending champion Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. In the first two games, the Timberwolves led 2-0, and this time the Nuggets launched a crazy counterattack, and the effect was also significant, and they soon took the initiative on the court, and then gradually opened the difference, leading by 15 points at halftime and leading by 27 points after the third quarter, so that the game lost suspense early. In the end, the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves 117-90 away to tie the score at 1-2.
In this game, Gobert returned, the offensive state of the two teams was not very good, and the difference between the points has not been opened, Porter Jr. hit a three-point shot, Towns immediately responded, and the Timberwolves led 10-9 after playing 5 minutes. Porter Jr. made two free throws to overtake the score, Gobert scored a dunk under the basket, and the two teams went back and forth on the offensive end, and the score was tied many times. Then the Timberwolves' offensive state was still poor, and the Nuggets seized the opportunity, Murray scored from mid-range, Holiday scored a three-pointer, and Jokic scored a basket to lead the Timberwolves 28-20 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Holiday scored three points, Murray also scored three points, the difference was gradually widened, Towns stopped the bleeding with three points, and McDaniels got his third foul early. The Nuggets continued to score points and were in excellent offensive form, with Murray breaking through to bring the score to 42-25. The Timberwolves' offensive state is still sluggish, Braun scored three points, the difference was stretched to 20 points, Gobert stopped the bleeding under the basket, Edwards counterattacked, Conley scored three points, and the Timberwolves narrowed some of the difference. Porter Jr. scored a basket to hold on, and after that, the Nuggets maintained the lead, and Towns hit a three-pointer to put the Timberwolves up 41-56 at halftime.
In the third quarter of the game, Gordon also scored three points, the Nuggets offense was very smooth, Edwards stopped the bleeding with three points, but Gordon hit two consecutive three-point shots, and Porter Jr. chased three points and soared, leading 72-50. McDaniels dunked to stop the bleeding, Edwards hit a three-pointer, and Murray and Jokic scored points one after another to withstand the Timberwolves' counterattack. Jokic led the team to continue to score points, and the difference was further widened, Reed stopped the bleeding with three points, Jokic responded directly, and Lee Kyle finally hit the whistle, and the Timberwolves fell behind 66-93 after the third quarter.
In the last quarter of the game, the Timberwolves did not give up and wanted to give it a go, but Porter Jr. scored three points again, McDaniels scored consecutive dunks, and the Nuggets were always able to respond, and the difference was always above 20 points. With Porter Jr.'s three-point surge, the difference was directly stretched to 30 points, and then the Timberwolves also surrendered directly and replaced the main players, and the game lost suspense. In the end, the Nuggets made a strong comeback, beating the Timberwolves by 27 points to pull one back.
The Nuggets responded well in this game and were not intimidated by the 0-2 scoreline. This time, Jokic got a quasi-triple-double of 24 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists, and Murray got 24 points and 5 assists, and he was also the key to the team's victory. In addition, Porter Jr. also had 21 points, Gordon 13 and Pope 12, and the starting five once again combined to make a difference, which was also the key to their victory.
The Timberwolves were in a poor offensive state this time and failed to show their previous level, Edwards and Towns were still in good shape, of which Edwards had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists on 8-of-15 shooting, and Towns scored 14 points on 4-of-5 three-pointers, but unfortunately they lacked a third scoring point this time. Reed, who received the Sixth Man of the Year trophy, only scored 7 points, and the home fans were also a little disappointed, and could only look forward to the next shock victory. In addition, it was also the first loss of the Timberwolves in this playoffs, and they have won six in a row before.