97-112, the Timberwolves lost again.
In the semifinals, the Timberwolves won two games on the road and were chased by the Nuggets for three games in a row, losing the series 2-3. I have to say that the defending champion's background is really strong, and he can overtake the score after losing two games at home, and Jokic, who once again won the regular season MVP, proved the saying "the champion may have parallel goods, but the MVP does not".
Of course, we can't say that Edwards or Towns are "parallel champions", their current strength has exceeded the average of the top picks in the past 20 years, but the talent that is rare in a century is too strong and too rebellious, and the two champions of the Timberwolves still need further growth and experience.
Today's game is in the spotlight, not only because it is the battle of Tianwang Mountain, but more importantly, the first four games have been won by both teams at home and away, and it was a fantastic 2-2 draw. So at the beginning of today's game, the two sides fell into a scorching offensive and defensive battle, the scores of the two sides rose alternately in the first quarter of the game, the Timberwolves blossomed more and then sent five people to score in the first quarter, while the Nuggets' Jokic was unstoppable and scored 12 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. At the end of the first quarter, the two sides tied at 24, and the Nuggets bench Reggie scored four points in a row, and the Nuggets temporarily led 28-26 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Nuggets began to increase their defensive intensity, and Edwards forced him to play the ball or make mistakes, which worked well, and Edwards scored only 1 point on 0-of-4 shooting in the second quarter, and the Timberwolves scored only 18 points in the second quarter. Of course, the Nuggets focused on defending the package in the first quarter, and their scoring was only 22 points, outscoring the Timberwolves by four points in a single quarter. At halftime, the Nuggets led the Timberwolves by six points, 50-44. At the beginning of the second half, Towns scored a two-point layup, Edwards went to the free throw line and hit both free throws, Towns scored another three-pointer, and the Timberwolves scored seven points in a row to overtake the score. However, after 7-0, the Timberwolves' offense suddenly lost power, not only could not attack or prevent, the Nuggets won by 8 points in a single quarter 38-30, and the Nuggets had a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
In the third quarter, Kicic scored 16 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists on 6-of-7 shooting, and the whole Timberwolves team had no temper. When it came to the crucial moment of the final quarter, the Timberwolves players still did not improve, and whenever they wanted to get up or chase points, they were always saved by the Nuggets in time, and finally the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves 112-97 at home, leading the series 3-2 and getting the match point, and the next game will be played on the home court of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"Solving the bag is a must to become a supergiant", Jokic has learned this course very well, and now he can basically ignore all the bags on the court, so he won the regular season MVP Cup again, and will lead the team to win the championship again. Edwards is obviously still at a failing level, and if he can't crack the bag, he can't continue to help the team, and he can't lead the team to win, so Edwards still has a long way to go on the road to becoming a supergiant.
Game stats: Nuggets Jokic 40 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists, Gordon 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, Murray 16 points, Pope 16 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, Braun 10 points and 5 rebounds; For the Timberwolves, Towns had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Gobert 18 points and 11 rebounds, Edwards 18 points, 4 points and 9 assists, McDaniels 9 points, and Lee Kyle 2 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.