On May 13, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs Timberwolves hosted the Nuggets, the score of the two sides was 2-1 before the game, and the G3 Timberwolves suffered a heavy defeat. Nuggets starters: Murray + Pope + Porter + Gordon + Jokic, Timberwolves starters: Conley + Edwards + McDaniels + Towns + Gobert.
McDaniels threw the first to score, Porter responded with a jumper, Conley hit a three-point shot, and then Watts began to break out, layup + mid-range shot + three-point + layup cut 9 points in a row, the Nuggets are also tough, Gordon scored three points, Jokic hooked his hand, Murray shot, Jokic and 2 + 1, the point difference could not be opened, the Timberwolves continued to exert their strength, Watts made a foul, Reed scored three points, at this time the Timberwolves led by 7 points, Jokic hooked his hand, Watts attacked the foul, Reggie scored three points, the difference was 2 points, Watts did not score a layup, Gordon 2+1 helped the Nuggets overtake, Watts stepped back and missed a three-point shot, Gordon hatted Downs, Reggie scored three points, Walker hit a shot to stop the bleeding, Reggie dribbled out of bounds, Downs missed a hook shot, Jokic made a whistle-blowing jumper, and the Nuggets led by 5 points at 29-24 in the first quarter.
Downs was 0 in 7 in the first quarter, the Timberwolves suddenly lost power in the second quarter, the Nuggets came up with a wave of 12-2, Braun and Holiday became the two substitutes, the difference was 15 points, Conley tossed, Holiday made one of two free throws, Jokic jumped, the difference was 16 points, Watts pulled the lever and scored a layup, Jokic crushed Gobert for a layup, Reed scored 4 points in a row, Downs hooked, Watts led the team to chase single digits, Gordon dunked in response, Jokic also dunked with one arm, Watts chased a three-point shot, McDaniels blocked Jokic, Gordon dunked again, McDaniels actually missed two free throws, Watts pulled out a three-point shot, Pope also responded with three points, the Timberwolves made various mistakes, Porter made a layup, Murray scored a three-point blast from a magical ultra-long distance, and the Nuggets were 64-49 Timberwolves at halftime.
Halftime statistics, Jokic 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, Murray 7 points and 6 assists, Porter 4 points and 2 rebounds, Gordon 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, Holiday 4 points, Reggie 6 points and 2 assists. On the Timberwolves side, Edwards had 23 points and 2 assists, Conley had 5 points and 4 assists, Reed had 9 points and 2 rebounds, McDaniels had 6 points, Towns had 3 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, and Gobert had 1 point and 7 rebounds.
Yibian fought again, Murray made a layup at the beginning, Conley hit a three-point shot, Murray jumped and continued to cut points, Watts and Downs responded with three consecutive points, Malone shouted a timeout in seconds, and after coming back, Murray and Gordon hit three points in a row to stabilize the situation, Downs made a basket, Gobert 2+1, Gordon violently made up a dunk, Murray hit three points again, the Nuggets stabilized the situation, the Timberwolves fought back tenaciously, Watts jumper + three points + pick-up and cut 7 points in a row, fortunately there are Watts, otherwise the Timberwolves will collapse, Pope hat Walker, Towns three points and three points are not sticky, Watts retreats three points and does not score, Gordon made a foul, Murray picked up a basket, Conley missed a three-point shot, Watts folded and dunked, but it was really not good to rely on Watts alone, Holiday hit an iron shot, Watts made two free throws, and the Nuggets ended the third quarter 90-79 Timberwolves.
At the beginning of the last quarter, Conley threw and chased to single digits, Jokic singled Gobert to cause 2+1, and then he hit three points, Gobert responded with consecutive scores, Braun fired outside, McDaniels picked up the basket, Gordon jumped, the difference was 13 points, Conley hit a three-point shot, Jokic tossed, Gobert made a basket, and then both sides made mistakes, Jokic threw and scored, Downs missed three points, Watts made a foul, the difference was 10 points, time was running out, Gordon ate a cake and dunked, McDaniels scored three points and Watts went to the basket to make a layup. Jokic hooked his hand, Gobert missed two free throws, Jokic made a layup to completely end the suspense, and finally the Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets 107-115.
Unexpectedly, the Timberwolves lost again, and the score between the two sides came to 2-2 after this battle, the Nuggets lost 2 home games, and the Timberwolves also failed to hold 2 home games. Looking at the whole court, unlike G3, the referee did not have an obvious bias in this game, and the Nuggets did make successful adjustments, such as letting Gordon against Gobert, Jokic against Towns, which worked very well, and then the Nuggets' bench also stood up, the reason why the Timberwolves lost the game was that the interior line was blown up by Jokic, and then Towns played badly, and Edwards was isolated.
In terms of statistics, Edwards scored 44 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers on 16 of 25, 5 three-pointers, and 7 of 8 free throws. Towns only got 13 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists in 5 of 18, and he had no touch on the offensive end in the first half, frequently playing iron on the inside, and was hammered by Jokic on the defensive end, and recovered in the second half, but it was far from enough, and he was undoubtedly the sinner of the Timberwolves' loss.
McDaniels 11 points, Conley 15 points and 9 assists, the defense is not good, the old pace can't keep up with the easy targeting, Gobert 11 points, 14 rebounds, 1 block and 5 turnovers have almost no bright spots, because he is opposite Gordon, once Gobert goes to cover Jokic, then Gordon's opportunity will come out, and moreover, in some rounds, Gobert personally went to defend Jokic, and the result was also blown up, Gobert was too slow to keep up with the rhythm, resulting in the Timberwolves could only fight with the Nuggets to attack, in this case the Timberwolves could not have an advantage.
Frankly speaking, maybe Gobert really shouldn't have come back, and the Timberwolves should play fast if they want to see the reality clearly. Reed had 11 points and 4 rebounds, and he couldn't stop Jokic, Walker had 2 points and 3 assists, and Lee Kyle didn't score. The Timberwolves are in a very bad situation right now, the Nuggets have found a way to adapt to them, the important thing is that the Nuggets are playing confidently, and G5 is being played in Denver, and the Nuggets will definitely have a very high probability of getting the match point at that time.
Nuggets stats: Jokic scored 35 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 4 turnovers in 15 of 26, from the first quarter, Mr. Jokic showed strong aggressiveness, scoring many times under the siege of the twin towers, and even staged a rare flying split dunk in the second quarter. Murray had 19 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers, and he didn't play well, but he scored a key point every time, and he also hit a three-pointer at halftime.
Porter 4 points and 3 rebounds, Pope 3 points, 3 assists and 2 blocks, Gordon 27 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, 11 of 12 is ridiculously efficient, and being able to fight to grab offense and defense is an important contributor to the Nuggets' victory, Holiday 10 points and 2 rebounds, Reggie 6 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, Braun 11 points, and the Nuggets bench played very well today. The NBA miracle was born, from 0-2 at home to 2-2, the playoffs have changed dramatically, the Nuggets deserve to be the defending champions, the ability to adjust is seriously underestimated, and the next is Tianwang Mountain, the Timberwolves have to think of a way, they can't win the Nuggets with Watts alone, Towns and Reed must stand up.