In the second round of G4, the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves 115-107 away, and the big score was chased to 2-2.
In this game, the Timberwolves started well, leading 22-15 halfway through the first quarter, but from then until the beginning of the second quarter, the Nuggets beat the Timberwolves with a wave of 29-6, and after the point difference widened to double digits, the Nuggets never let the Timberwolves catch up.
It can be said that this Nuggets really showed the strength of the defending champions, with both offensive and defensive ends full, and the more crazy and representative round occurred at the end of the second quarter, when the Timberwolves chased 49-56 with 30 seconds left.
However, in less than half a minute, the following happened:
Jokic was caught in a pack and Pope hit a three-pointer from a wide open position
Edwards broke through and was stealed by Jokic
Jokic makes a long pass to Porter Jr.'s fast-break dunk
Alexander Walker made a mistake with a long pass
Murray made a steal and a three-pointer from beyond the box
From 56-49 to 64-49, the Nuggets played a wave of 8-0 in less than 30 seconds, widening the 7-point difference to 15 points, completely disparaging the two concepts, considering that the Nuggets' offensive stability is a historical level, the Timberwolves paid a huge price for this 30-second negligence.
There is no doubt that Jokic is the key to the Nuggets' win.
In the whole game, Jokic played a total of 39 minutes, shot 15 of 26, scored 35 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, including 16 of the team's 25 points in the fourth quarter.
Two rounds in the last few minutes:
- With 3 minutes left, Jokic hit McDaniels in a misplaced basket, Towns and Edwards defended, and Jokic sent the ball to Gordon in front of the three-man bag, who hit a dunk
- 1 minute left, Jokic misplaced Edwards, McDaniels assisted, Gobert played against Gordon, Jokic turned his back to break through, and hit the three-man throw
With the near-unique passing vision and skill of an all-time center, coupled with the unsolvable small throw, you can fully feel what an MVP is in these two rounds, which is how Jokic dominates the game.
And, the rest of the Nuggets' players on the court:
- Murray, 8-of-17, 3-of-7 three-pointers, 19 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, undercover in the fourth quarter, but the first three quarters played really well, and his and Jokic's blocking and pick-and-roll were still unstoppable
- Gordon, 11 of 12, 2 of 2 three-pointers, super efficient 27 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, not only eat the cake steadily, but even can break through with the ball, this Gordon is the second leader
- Holiday , Braun and Reggie Jackson combined for 27 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, and the two big shooters Porter Jr. and Pope only scored 7 points in this game, but the Nuggets' bench continued the firepower well
Speaking of the Timberwolves, Edwards did his best.
In the whole game, Edwards played a total of 45.3 minutes, shooting 16 of 25, 5 of 8 three-pointers, 7 of 8 free throws, and scored 44 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, 44 points is Edwards' playoff high, and it is also his third 40+ in the playoffs this year.
Pay attention to this data, Edwards' on-court plus/minus is +5, that is, in less than 3 minutes of his absence, the Timberwolves actually lost 13 points to the Nuggets, which is extremely exaggerated.
Edwards really did his best this time, except for him, everyone else combined for 23 of 57, shooting only 40.4%, among them, Towns and Gobert were particularly bad.
In the whole game, Towns played a total of 38 minutes, shooting 5-of-18 from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range, scoring only 13 points.
Of course, there are bright spots, Towns grabbed 12 rebounds in the game, including 5 offensive rebounds, creating a lot of opportunities for the Timberwolves, but the offensive shooting was inadequate, and the defense was blown up by Gordon, which is really hard to say outstanding.
Gobert was the same, grabbing 14 rebounds in the game, including 5 offensive rebounds, but his independent offensive ability was completely zero, butter couldn't hold the ball in his hands, was removed from the bench to walk, covered fouls, 5 turnovers in the game, and only 5 of 9 free throws.
Objectively speaking, affected by the G3 referee scale, G4's Timberwolves defense is not as fierce as G1G2, but this scale is a relatively normal scale in today's era, the real problem of the Timberwolves is the offense, Gobert drags space, and Towns can't score, they can only rely on Edwards.
However, the opposite side is the Nuggets, Edwards can break out and kill the Suns alone, it is too difficult to beat the Nuggets, but if there is a little disconnection, the Nuggets will be thrown away by the gap - from the end of the first quarter to the second quarter of this game, the Timberwolves probably experienced the feeling of the Lakers in the first round.
Let's talk about this series.
If you still remember, after the previous G2 game, how many fans felt that the Nuggets were going to be swept, and as a result, the Nuggets won two games in a row on the road, one won by 27 points, and one was suppressed in the last three quarters.
Both of these teams are championship teams, and it would be a real shame to meet in the second round, but for now, the Nuggets will be the more dominant side in the series, they have home-court advantage, and they are getting better and better.
As the saying goes, a champion is still a champion until it falls, and the Nuggets have proven it in the past two games, and Jokic has proven why he is the MVP, who do you think will have the last laugh in this series?