On the morning of May 13, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs Western Conference semifinals were played again. The defending champion Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves 115-107 in Minnesota to win two consecutive away games to tie the series at 2-2. In this game, in addition to Jokic, Gordon, Murray and other Nuggets stars who played well, the home team except for Edwards performed well, and the rest of the players were ridiculed by all walks of life after the game. In short, the series is not impossible to turn around from 0-2 down, and the Nuggets players are working hard to prove it.
Ever since the league announced the attribution of the regular-season MVP, as if to prove it, Jokic has been very dedicated to two games in a row and has certainly played his worth. In the last game, the Serbian star led the team back with quasi-triple-double data, and in this Game 4, he also took the lead and once again showed his MVP ability. Jokic played 39 minutes and led his side to a double-digit lead in the first half, before desperately fending off the home team's comeback in the second two quarters to maintain the lead until the end.
In this game, "Mr. Yokic" scored a team-high 35 points, as well as 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, which seems ordinary to Jokic, but it is not ordinary at all. You must know that this is in the playoff semifinals where the intensity of confrontation is far greater than that of the regular season, especially in the deciding quarter, Jokic first scored 8 points in a row to help the team stabilize its position, and then hit 3 points at a critical moment, assisted Gordon to dunk, and made a layup 25.8 seconds before the end to end the suspense of the game, fully showing the central role. And the reason why the Nuggets won was not that Jokic was fighting alone, and his teammates played extremely well. In the last game, Jokic ranked first in several major technical statistics, and this time it was for everyone to share. Murray dished out a team-high eight assists, Gordon equaled Jokic in rebounds and first on the team in blocks, making him the uncrowned king of the year's slam dunk contest.
In contrast, the Timberwolves players were lacklustre, which was also ridiculed after the game. Edwards played without words, another luxury statistic of 40+ points with 5 assists and 5 rebounds, but he was alone. The Timberwolves had five other players score in double figures, but all of them were in their early 10s, with mediocre performances. Ironically, Gobert and Conley, who accepted both the two awards before the game, were not at their best. It makes sense that center Gobert grabbed 14 rebounds, and his 11 points and five turnovers were criticized. Before the game, Gobert officially received the 2023-24 DPOY Olajuwon Trophy, which is his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, but fans were angry after the game that he should return the trophy because he did not play a defensive role. Mike Conley received the Teammate of the Year award for the second time in his career, but he couldn't help the team to victory. And the combination of Towns and Gobert's more than 400 million twin towers, only 23 of 8 in 24 points of the sluggish performance, one or the other, is the reason for the Timberwolves' home loss.
His teammates didn't play well, and even Edwards, who scored 44 points in the air, was teased. Barkley, who has become an NBA commentator, said, "Please end the talk of comparing Edwards to Jordan, Edwards is just a good playoff this season, and I think he will be a good player, a good kid." Close to Jordan? Absolutely not. ”
Game 5 of the series after the 2-2 draw is often referred to as the "Battle of Kings", and the Gam5 of this series will return to the home court of the defending champion Nuggets, and if the Nuggets can really take the lead, they may be able to achieve a miracle from 0-2 to finally winning the series.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin