Today, the Nuggets faced the Timberwolves at home, and finally defeated the Timberwolves 112-97, winning the match point with a big score of 3-2. After the game, the managers and players of both sides were interviewed by reporters.
Speaking about the team's victory, Nuggets head coach Malone said: "We won't be satisfied with this win, we have to go to the Timberwolves' home court and win another game. ”
Although the Nuggets currently hold the match point, anything can happen to the Timberwolves' home court in the next game, and if they lose, the result of the tiebreaker is unpredictable.
Timberwolves head coach Finch said of Jokic: "Jokic put on a performance at the level of the best player in the world, and we couldn't do anything about him. ”
In this game, many people from Gobert to Towns defended Jokic, but to no avail, Jokic blossomed inside and out, staged many violent dunks, and had many wonderful passes. He scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half and 16 points in the third quarter, and the Timberwolves had nothing to do. Unable to restrain Jokic, the Timberwolves can only admit defeat. Throughout the game, Jokic played 41 minutes, scoring 40 points, 7 rebounds, 13 assists and 0 turnovers on 15-of-22 shooting, and became the second player in playoff history since Chris Paul in 2018 to score at least 40 points, 10 assists and 0 turnovers in a single game.
Speaking about the series, Jokic said, "We're still in a dangerous situation right now, and we want to win one more game on the Timberwolves' home court. ”
After falling behind 0-2 in the series, the Nuggets won three games in a row and grasped the initiative to advance. The Nuggets' G3 and G4 wins on the road show that the Timberwolves are not perfect at home, and the Nuggets are expected to continue to win the last game.
Speaking about the reasons for the defeat, Downs said: "I think we haven't been able to play the defensive plan that we have in three games in a row, we don't have any more wiggle room now, we have to find a way to win and then come back and play a tie-break. ”
After the start of the game, two consecutive wins made people look forward to the Timberwolves winning the championship, but three consecutive losses made people lose hope for the Timberwolves. The twin tower combination with Gobert and Towns didn't show the ability it should be on the inside. Trailing 33-38 in rebounds really shouldn't be, which shows that the Timberwolves are inferior to the Nuggets in terms of desire to win. Due to the lack of defense, Jokic was given many empty opportunities and finally dunked, which damaged the morale of the Timberwolves. How to limit Jokic at home and how to play better is the problem for the Timberwolves. In this game, Downs played 38 minutes, scoring 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals on 10-of-19 shooting.
Murray said of his partnership with Jokic: "We started off the bench together, and my rookie year was the second year of his career. We've been building chemistry for a long time. ”
Murray was drafted by the Nuggets with the 7th pick in the first round in June 2016 and began his career with Jokic. Due to the long-term training and competition together, the two cooperate tacitly, making the opponent unguardable. The Nuggets won the championship last season, which is inseparable from the chemistry of Murray and Jokic. In this game, Ray played 41 minutes, scored 16 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 1 steal on 7-of-14 shooting.
The G6 between the Nuggets and the Timberwolves will be played at the home court of the Timberwolves, and the game time is 8:30 a.m. Beijing time on the 17th. Whether the Timberwolves can achieve a tie-break as they wish is exciting.