In the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs, the defending champion Nuggets, who have lost two home games in a row, can win back a city against the Timberwolves on the road, which is very concerning! In this round of the series, the performance of the Timberwolves in the first two games is terrifying, especially in the second game, in the absence of 4-time best defensive player Gobert, they actually beat the Nuggets by nearly 30 points! Therefore, before the G3 matchup, many fans were even thinking about such a question: Can the Timberwolves sweep the Nuggets? Before the start of this series, it would be a fantasy if someone asked such a question, but after the first two games, there is indeed such a possibility, you must know that the Timberwolves won the first two away games, and then their two home games!
G3 matchup, the visiting defending champion Nuggets, has no way out, in the absolute sense of the backwater, because in the history of the NBA, there has never been a team in the playoffs after losing three games in a row can win four consecutive games, once the third game is lost, the Nuggets will be 0-3 behind, basically declared out. In the first quarter of the game, Murray and Porter both ushered in a return to their state, Murray scored 8 points in 4 of 6, Porter also scored 8 points in 2 of 5, and Jokic finally ushered in the recovery of 2 of 2 helpers with 5 points and 5 rebounds! In this case, the Nuggets dominated the game, building an eight-point lead at 28-20 in the first quarter, and although Towns hit two three-pointers, Edwards' performance declined, and the Timberwolves' offensive efficiency was low.
In this game, the Timberwolves have changed their starting lineup, Gobert ushered in a comeback, Lee Kyle returned to the bench, Gobert just won the best defensive player of the season, won this honor for the fourth time, tied with Mutombo, Ben Wallace, tied for the first place in history, in fact, the Timberwolves lineup is stronger, but this game, Gobert's comeback failed to help the Timberwolves, trailing by 8 points in the first quarter, after the start of the second quarter, the Nuggets fired continuously from the outside, and the difference quickly widened to 14 points, This is also the Timberwolves' biggest score behind in the playoffs this season, in the first round of the previous playoffs, the Timberwolves won four consecutive games to sweep the Suns led by Durant, and then counting the two consecutive away victories against the Nuggets, a total of 6 playoff games, the Timberwolves have never fallen behind to reach double digits! However, the Nuggets' offensive climax continued, and with Braun scoring three points in the open, the Timberwolves trailed by 20 points at 25-45! At halftime, the Nuggets led the Timberwolves by 15 points, 56-41.
In the first half, Murray has cut 18 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Porter also has 12 points and 3 rebounds, Murray and Porter's return to the back, Jokic played very comfortable, got 7 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, the scoring pressure has plummeted, and he can help the team more in tandem, which is what Jokic is best at. For the Timberwolves, Towns had 12 points and 4 rebounds, Edwards had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, and Conley had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Edwards scored 9 points on 8 shots, and Gobert only had 4 points and 2 rebounds in the first half, with 0 blocks, steals, and assists, especially only 2 rebounds, which contributed too little to the team's interior. On the offensive end, the Timberwolves only shot 30% from the field and scored only 41 points in the half, which was completely unsatisfactory.