On May 17, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs will continue, and the league has only scheduled one game, the Nuggets away against the Timberwolves. As last season's champion, Jokic is expected to lead the team to four consecutive wins and advance to the Western Conference finals with an overall score of 4-2. Facing the danger of elimination, Edwards will try to stop the decline at home and drag the series into a tie-break. The G6 battle is imminent, who will win?
8:30: Nuggets vs. Timberwolves
The Nuggets currently lead the Timberwolves 3-2 overall, and the G6 game will be played on the Timberwolves' home court. The G1 Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets 106-99 away, the G2 Timberwolves beat the Nuggets 106-80 away, the G3 Nuggets beat the Timberwolves 117-90 away, the G4 Nuggets beat the Timberwolves 115-107 away, and the G5 Nuggets beat the Timberwolves 112-97 at home to win the battle of Tianwang Mountain. In the regular season this season, the Nuggets are 57-25 and 24-17 on the road. The Timberwolves are 56-26 and 30-11 at home.
In the first two quarters of the last game, the difference between the two sides did not widen, and at halftime, the Nuggets led by six points at 50-44. The Timberwolves once overtook the score in the third quarter, but were quickly snatched back the initiative by the Nuggets and gradually widened the difference, with the Nuggets leading by as many as 18 points. In the end, the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves by 15 points and won three in a row. Timberwolves' Towns had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Edwards had 18 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists, and Gobert had 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Nuggets' Jokic had 40 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists, Gordon 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, Murray 16 points and 4 assists, and Pope 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Jokic was the key to the Nuggets' 2-0 lead to win three games in a row. In the last three games, he has scored a total of 99 points. Speaking about Jokic's supernatural play, Edwards reluctantly said: "I can only laugh, that's all I can do, I can't be angry because he's good, he's the MVP, he's the best player in the NBA, and he's shown us that in the last three games." He's special, I have to send him flowers, I don't know how we're going to respond, he's the guy who dominates the G5. ”
To avoid being eliminated from the G6, the Timberwolves must find ways to limit Jokic effectively. Gobert stressed the need for the team to keep their heads up. 'We were a little demoralised in the second half and we can't do that. Before the G5 game, when Gobert was defending Jokic, the opponent only had an 11-of-28 performance, but in the G5 game, Jokic faced Gobert 8-of-9 and completely broke the four-time best defensive player.
The injury of main guard Conley is also a big blow to the Timberwolves. He missed the battle of Tianwang Mountain due to a sore right Achilles tendon, and it is still unknown whether G6 will be able to play.
When they were down 0-2, Nuggets coach Malone challenged the whole team, and the players were also very competitive, winning the next three games against the Timberwolves by an average of 16.7 points per game, showing the strength of last season's champion. "We're trying to go to Minnesota to finish this series, and it's going to be a tough game," Malone said. ”
Injuries: Nuggets' Kankar is out, Murray is doubtful; The Timberwolves' Conley is doubtful.
ESPN Predicted Win Percentage: Nuggets 49.1%, Timberwolves 50.9%