Nuggets vs Timberwolves, the battle of Tianwang Mountain in the semifinals
The Western Conference semifinals Nuggets vs Timberwolves battle of Tianwang Mountain began, this game, Conley was absent due to injury, and Minnesota was under great pressure to play away from home. With a 2-0 lead, the Timberwolves lost 2 games in a row and were tied by the Nuggets. Denver, which has won 2 consecutive games, is even more imposing after returning to the home court. Under the leadership of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Pope, Aaron Gordon and others, the Nuggets played a smooth offense and strong defense, and finally managed to conquer Tianwang Mountain.
Jokic 40 + 7 + 13 created 2 major historical No. 1 miracles, hanging the Timberwolves 3 inside! Lakers veteran will make meritorious contributions!
Jokic and Towns led the team to fight each other, Pope felt hot, Reggie Jackson stepped up from the bench, and the Nuggets took a slight lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, Jokic continued to take into account scoring and tandem teams, Timberwolves guard Walker, who replaced Conley to the start, scored in a row from mid-to-long distance, Gobert and Gordon fought in the restricted area, Braun hit the basket one after another, and Jokic and Walker started a confrontation. At halftime, the Nuggets led by four points.
Kyle Lee and Edwards pack Jokic
In the rematch, Gobert teamed up with Towns to exert force at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and the Timberwolves launched an 11-3 offensive run to overtake the score. Pope, Gordon, and Murray teamed up to score points and led the team back to an 11-2 run. Gobert and Jokic fought in the restricted area, and Jokic entered the scoring mode, making the opponent unguardable. Heading into the final quarter, the Nuggets held a 14-point lead.
Gordon, Gobert and Reed collided on the inside, Pope hit two long-range shots, Jokic completed a dunk, and Denver led by 18 points to occupy the initiative on the court. Edwards, Towns and Reed led the team back to a 10-3 offensive run, and the Timberwolves saw hope of a comeback victory. Gordon hit a buzzer-beating single-shot, Jokic hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer, and the Nuggets sealed the win. Murray scored consecutive points, and the Timberwolves hit the outside iron one after another, and the game gradually lost suspense. In the end, Denver defeated Minnesota 112-97 to win the match point.
The Nuggets took the match point
Jokic 40+7+13 created the first miracle in 2 major history, beating the Timberwolves 3 inside
In this game, Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic showed his absolute strength as the No. 1 person in the league. Against the Timberwolves, who were the No. 1 defensive team in the league in the regular season, Jokic showed his indiscriminate single-handedness. Jokic continued to wreak havoc on the offensive end, breaking down the Timberwolves' interior group. At the same time, Jokic also set a miracle that has never been seen before in the NBA.
Nikola Jokic
Jokic shot 15-of-22, 2-of-3 from three-point range, 8-of-9 from the free-throw line, and blasted 40 points, 7 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 0 turnovers. Jokic's scoring, assists and steals all led the game. Jokic, who scored 19 points in the first half, scored another 21 points in the second half. Jokic scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the third quarter and hit a winning long-range shot in the fourth quarter. Jokic, who has achieved an all-round rampage, dominated the game with superb basketball IQ on both offensive and defensive ends.
In addition, Jokic's performance also won over Timberwolves coach Finch and star Edwards. Finch said in an interview: "Jokic gave one of the best player in the world and we couldn't do anything about him." Edwards commented on Jokic, "I can only laugh and not get angry because he's too strong."
Jokic scrambles for the rebound
In addition, Jokic also set the first miracle in the history of the two NBAs. 1. Statistics show: Jokic is the first player in NBA playoff history to contribute at least 70 points to the team through scoring + assists without turnovers (the league has counted turnovers since the 1977-78 season).
Second, Jokic is the first player in NBA playoff history to score at least 15 goals and at least 10 assists in a single game without turnovers.
With two NBA all-time No. 1 records, Jokic's performance was truly stunning and perfect. In addition, Jokic also beat the Timberwolves' three major interior linemen, Carl Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reed. Downs shot 10-of-19, 2-of-5 from three-point range and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to finish with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls. In this game, Towns' shooting percentage, three-point shooting percentage, and free throw shooting percentage were all inferior to the opponent's Jokic. In addition, Jokic's three statistics, including scoring, rebounding, and assists, are also ahead of Towns. In the matchup with Jokic, Towns was visibly suppressed on both ends of the floor.
Jokic singles Downs
Gobert was 7-of-7 from the field and recorded a double-double of 18 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, and committed four fouls. However, Gobert, a four-time regular season defensive player of the year, was blown up by Jokic on the defensive end. ESPN statistics show that Gobert made 7 of 7 shots from the field with Jokic in the first three quarters, shooting 100 percent. Jokic shot 8-of-9 from the field and shot 89 percent from the field against Gobert's defense. Blowing up Gobert, the league's best defensive player, Jokic can be said to have completely crushed the opponent's confidence.
Jokic singled Gobert
Reed made 3-of-8 shooting and 0-of-3 three-pointers to contribute seven points and three rebounds. As the league's new No. 6 man, Reed failed to step up on the offensive end under Jokic's defense. Moreover, Jokic's low-post singles also made the Timberwolves bench interior Reid at a loss. In this game, Reed had 4 fouls, but it still couldn't limit Jokic's rampage.
Jokic singled Reed
Jokic led his team to a 62-48 run over opponents in interior scoring. Jokic's beating of Minnesota's three interior lines is the foundation for the Nuggets to build a huge interior advantage.
The Lakers will make a meritorious service
Pope, the Nuggets' starting point guard, played a big role in Denver's victory. As a veteran of the Lakers, Pope, who used to be LeBron James' teammate, has a strong performance on both offensive and defensive ends in this game. Pope shot 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range, and recorded 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal. Pope has an extremely high 75 percent shooting percentage and a high three-point shooting percentage of 80 percent. Pope, who made the most long-range shots in the game, was on fire from the outside. Pope hit two long-range shots in the final quarter to help the Nuggets extend the margin to 18 points and close the game. As the third-highest scoring player on the team, Pope shared the scoring load with Jokic, Gordon and Murray.
Pope defends Edwards
In addition, Pope also has a consistent output in terms of tandem teams. At the same time, Pope did a good job of limiting Timberwolves backcourt superstar Edwards. Under his main defense, Edwards shot 5 of 15 and 1 of 5 3-pointers, and the offensive efficiency was a big failure. Pope's plus/minus of +16 ranks second in the game, behind only Jokic. Pope's influence on both offensive and defensive ends can be seen.
As the best 3-and-D player, Pope played a great role in the Nuggets' win of match points.