On May 13, Beijing time, in the NBA Western Conference semifinals, the Timberwolves hosted the Nuggets (G4). After winning two away games in a row, the Timberwolves lost their home court in the third game, and in the fourth game today, the two sides are evenly matched.
In the first 7 minutes of the first quarter, Edwards scored 11 points, the Timberwolves led by 7 points at 22-15, and after 4 and a half minutes of the quarter, the Nuggets completed a wave of 14-2 attacks, and the Nuggets led 29-24 after the first quarter, Jokic scored 11 points and 4 boards, Gordon scored 8 points in 3 of 3, Gobert scored 0 points and 3 boards on the Timberwolves' two big interior lines, and Towns scored only 1 point and 3 boards on 0 of 7 shots.
In the second quarter, the Nuggets led the Timberwolves by 16 points after 15-4 and 44-28, 3 minutes and 54 seconds, Edwards broke through and hit 2 points, and the Timberwolves chased the score to 41-50, with 20 seconds left in the quarter, Pope hit a three-pointer, Edwards missed, Porter Jr. hit a fast-break dunk, Timberwolves Walker made another mistake, Murray made a steal and hit a three-point shot in the backcourt, and at halftime, the Nuggets led the Timberwolves by 15 points at 64-49.
[Halftime stats: Nuggets shot 64.3%, Timberwolves only 44.2%, penalty area scoring Nuggets 34-22 lead, turnovers 13-7, assists 17-11. Jokic had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, Gordon scored 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks on 6-of-6 shooting, Murray had 7 points and 6 assists, Edwards scored 23 points and 2 assists on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, Reed scored 9 points on 4-of-4 shooting, and Gobert and Towns combined for 4 points and 14 rebounds on 1-of-11 shooting.
In the first half of the third quarter, the difference between the two sides has been hovering around 15 points, 5 minutes and 5 seconds, Edwards hit a three-point shot, the Timberwolves fell behind by 10 points at 71-81, and the Nuggets always maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the quarter, ending the third quarter with a 90-79 lead, Murray contributed 12 points in a single quarter, Gordon scored 9 points in 3 of 3, Edwards scored 14 points in a single quarter on the Timberwolves side, and Towns scored 8 points.
In the end, Kicic scored eight straight points to give the Nuggets a 98-85 lead, Gobert made 3 of 4 free throws, and the Nuggets hit a three-pointer... As the game entered the final three minutes, the Timberwolves were still trailing by double digits, and they ended up losing 107-115 at home to the Nuggets. After this game, the score of the two sides came to a 2-2 draw, and the Nuggets won two consecutive away games to regain home court advantage after losing two home games in a row, and the fifth game between the two sides will return to Denver.
Player stats and plus/minus:
Jokic had 35 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, shooting 13-of-24 from the field with a plus/minus of +7
Gordon had 27 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks, shooting 10-of-11 from the field and plus/minus +13
Murray had 19 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, shooting 8-of-15 from the field and a plus/minus of +4
Porter had 4 points and 3 rebounds, shooting 2-of-4 from the field and +3 plus/minus
Pope had 3 points, 2 assists and 2 blocks, shooting 1-of-6 from the field and a plus/minus of +3
Holiday had 10 points and 3 rebounds, shooting 3-of-6 from the field and plus/minus +11
Braun had 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting and a plus/minus of +11
Jackson had six points and three assists, shooting 2-of-4 from the field and a plus/minus of +8
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Edwards had 44 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, shooting 16-of-25 from the field and a plus/minus of +7
Downs had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists, shooting 5-of-18 from the field with a plus/minus of +4
Gobert had 11 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 3-of-5 from the field and gaining +9 plus/minus
McDaniels had 11 points and two rebounds, shooting 4-of-8 from the field and plus/minus -4
Conley had 15 points and nine assists, shooting 5-of-11 from the field and a plus/minus of -5
Reed had 11 points and 4 rebounds, shooting 5-of-6 from the field and plus/minus -9
Walker had 2 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, shooting 1-of-7 from the field and a plus/minus of -19
Lee Kyle had 0 points, shot 0-of-1 from the field, and had a plus/minus of -14