After the Nuggets easily defeated the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, they met a difficult opponent in the division semifinals - the young Timberwolves, from a 0-2 start with two consecutive home losses to three consecutive wins to win the battle of Tianwang Mountain, and then to today's G6 defeat by a big score, the Nuggets and its fans have experienced ups and downs like a roller coaster. Today's 70-115 loss on the road by 45 points created the largest single-game point difference in this year's playoffs, which is also something fans could not have imagined.
The tiebreaker will be played at the Nuggets' home court on May 20, and it will be interesting to see whether the Nuggets defend their dignity as the defending champion, Jokic as the MVP, or the young Timberwolves as they challenge for the championship.
At the beginning of today's game, the Nuggets jumped possession, but the first attack Murray missed the shot, Gobert protected the rebound and handed it to Conley to dribble through the half, and after many passes and cooperation, Gobert scored a layup on the cover. Here, Jokic dunked back, the Timberwolves made a mistake in the positional battle and was whistled for a rebounding foul, and the Nuggets Porter Jr. made a layup to make the Nuggets take a 4-2 temporary lead, and then Jokic used the rhythm to make a layup, Porter Jr. also had a three-pointer, and the Nuggets played a wave of 9-0, and the score came to 9-2 The Timberwolves were forced to call a timeout. Seeing this, I thought that the Timberwolves would explain like this, but I knew that the Timberwolves who came back from the suspension directly played a 20-0 offensive tide, and the 22-9 Timberwolves overtook the Nuggets and led by 13 points, and then the Timberwolves were full of firepower and led the Nuggets by 17 points at 31-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The plot reversed too quickly, and the Timberwolves also needed to slow down, in the second quarter of the game, the Nuggets began to chase points under the leadership of Jokic, but how can they give you a chance at the home court of the Timberwolves, although the difference in points is close to about 10 points many times, but the Timberwolves' offense and defense have been online without major loopholes, and the Nuggets have no chance. In the second quarter, the Timberwolves won by two points at 28-26, and the Timberwolves held a 19-point lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Timberwolves were still widening the difference, and by the end of the third quarter, the difference had reached 25 points, and the Nuggets almost lost the opportunity to turn the game around. At the beginning of the fourth quarter of the game, the Nuggets gave up the game and replaced the bench lineup early, and the Timberwolves also did their best to come off the bench, and the Timberwolves bench players who finally got the opportunity to play were not relentless, and they frantically output 29-9 in a single quarter in the fourth quarter, and the maximum point difference once came to 50 points. In this way, they won this crucial victory at home by a big score, and agreed to meet in G7 with Jokic.
The starting lineups of the two teams are really strong compared to the Nuggets, after all, there is an absolute strong point of 3MVP Jokic, and there are also veterans with playoff experience such as Murray, Pope, Gordon, and Porter Jr., compared to the young players of the Timberwolves, they are a little immature. But the bench lineup looks at the Timberwolves to beat the Nuggets, and the Timberwolves' bench lineup includes Walker, Reed, Lee Kyle and other players, all of whom can play the main rotation; On the other hand, the Nuggets' bench players Holiday , Braun and Jackson are completely out of action. That is to say, the Nuggets have almost no way to play except for the starting five, and the bench lineup cannot make up for it if the starting lineup cannot be opened, and the only thing waiting for them is the fate of losing.
Match stats:
Timberwolves: Edwards 27 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, McDaniels 21 points, Gobert 8 points and 14 rebounds, Towns 10 points and 13 rebounds, Reed 10 points and 11 rebounds, Lee Kyle 4 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists;
Nuggets: Jokic 22 points and 9 rebounds, Gordon 12 points and 8 rebounds, Murray 10 points and 5 assists, Porter Jr. 8 points, Pope 9 points.