Nuggets vs Timberwolves
The G6 battle between the Nuggets and the Timberwolves in the semifinals started at Minnesota's home court. The Timberwolves, who are on the verge of being eliminated, ushered in the return of Mike Conley from injury in this game. The Minnesota Warriors, led by Edwards, Conley, Downs, McDaniels, Lee Kyle, Reed and others, played a fluid offense and a suffocating defense. The trend of the game was almost one-sided. Relying on excellent outside touch, absolute interior advantage, and multi-point flowering, the Timberwolves finally defeated their opponents 115-70 and were able to drag the series into a tie-breaker.
Jokic and Pope led the team to play a 9-2 offensive in the opening game, Edwards scored frantically, under Conley's scheduling, McDaniels, Towns, and Gobert all made difficulties in the restricted area, Edwards and McDaniels made many defensive contributions, and the Timberwolves blasted out a 27-2 offensive frenzy. At the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets trailed by 17 points. In the second quarter, Murray still didn't feel the same hand, Lee Kyle and Reed led the bench to continue to expand the difference, Jokic and Gordon and Downs, Edwards, Conley, McDaniels against each other. At halftime, the Nuggets trailed by 19 points.
Towns defends Jokic
Rematch, Conley continued to connect the team, Gobert and Towns worked on the inside, Edwards and McDaniels did not lose their hands, and there were violent dunks to send, the Nuggets still couldn't find the outside touch, so they could only rely on Jokic to score points sporadically, Conley hit a long shot, and the Timberwolves took a 29-point lead.
In the 4th quarter, Gobert scored a basket, Conley and Edwards continued to attack outside, and the Timberwolves scored 36 points to seal the win. With less than 10 minutes to go, Malone replaced the starters and announced an early defeat. The Denver bench was ineffective offensively, and the Timberwolves went on a 26-2 offensive spree to extend the margin to 49 points. The game was completely out of suspense, and Minnesota led by 50 points at one point, and the game time gradually ran out. Jokic spent the entire 9-plus minutes of garbage time standing on the sidelines with a serious face and did not sit down. Three-time regular season MVP Jokic left the court early and accepted the rout.
Jokic stood on the sidelines
In this battle, the Timberwolves crushed their opponents in almost all aspects of various statistics. Rebounding data, with the hard work of Towns, Gobert, Reed, Lee Kyle and others, Minnesota won 62-43, and the Timberwolves led 46-36 in interior scoring. In terms of assists and steals, the Timberwolves led 26-18 (Jokic only had 2 assists) and 9-2 respectively. The fast-break score, the Timberwolves crushed the opponent 18-9. In terms of three-point shooting, Minnesota crushed the Nuggets 15-7. Taking advantage of the opponent's mistakes to score, the Timberwolves won 19-3. In addition, under Minnesota's high-pressure defense, the Nuggets had a whopping 12 turnovers throughout the game. In the internal and external competitions, as well as on both offensive and defensive ends, the Nuggets were beaten.
Timberwolves
Edwards created 3 miracles, and the Nuggets lost by 45 points and set a 6 shameful record! Conley meritorious service, Murrayla crotch!
Edwards created 3 miracles
Timberwolves superstar Edwards blasted 27 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in this game. As the scoring and steal leader of the game, Edwards performed impressively on both offensive and defensive ends. Edwards scored 14 points in the first quarter to lead a 27-2 offensive spree that laid the foundation for the Timberwolves to win over their opponents. Edwards, who hit the most four long-range shots in the game, delivered a strong output on the offensive end and led the team to defeat the defending champions. In this game, Edwards has a plus/minus of +43.
Edwards
In this battle, Edwards also performed 3 miracles. No. 1, Edwards has played 21 career playoff games, and has scored at least 600 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists, the fifth fastest in history, second only to LeBron James, basketball god Michael Jordan, Doncic and Maddy.
No. 2, Edwards played 4 games of life and death (elimination when he loses), averaging 30 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He is the fourth player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in a do-or-die match. The first 3 are Jordan, James, and Doncic.
Anthony Edwards
Third, Edwards has a plus/minus of +43, tied for the fifth highest in history, tied with Love and Terry (+43), and second only to Butler, James, Bane (+46), and Bullock (+44).
Edwards is one of the league's few offensive and defensive stars, and he's made rapid progress this season. Edwards, who is on the rise, is destined to become the NBA's signature superstar.
The Nuggets lost by 45 points, setting a record of 6 humiliation
In this battle, the Nuggets lost by 45 points and set a record of 6 humiliations. The 1st and 45th points are the largest loss margin in the history of the Nuggets in the playoffs. The Nuggets' previous largest loss in a playoff game was 44 points (109-153 to the Lakers in 1985).
The Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves, and the series was dragged into a tiebreaker
The 2nd and 70th points are the lowest points in a single playoff game in the history of the Nuggets. The lowest score in a playoff game in franchise history is 76 points (in 2005, they lost 76-104 to the Spurs).
The 3rd and 45th points also created the second largest winning margin for teams facing elimination in NBA playoff history! The all-time record is 58 points set by the Lakers in 1956. This also means that the Nuggets lost by 45 points and were nailed to the shame post.
Jokic, Nuggets
The 4th and 45th points also created the largest point difference in this playoffs, after 38 points in G3 of the Cavaliers and Magic series.
Fifth, the playoffs scored only 70 points in a single game, and the Nuggets set the lowest score in a single playoff game in the past 8 years.
Sixth, the Timberwolves grabbed 62 rebounds in this game, which was the key to Minnesota's 45-point victory. The 62 rebounds also set the highest single-game record in the NBA playoffs since the Nuggets (62) on May 7, 2019, and the Nuggets are once again the backdrop.
Conley meritorious service
The Timberwolves' veteran point guard Conley returned to the fire line, which can be said to activate the whole team at both offensive and defensive ends. The excellent long-range shooting ability made the opponent dare not arbitrarily wrap up Edwards, which greatly alleviated the high-pressure defense that Edwards was carrying. In addition, Conley's excellent ball control and passing ability also set the tone for Minnesota on both offensive and defensive ends.
Mike Conley
In addition, Gobert also went on a rampage after the return of his former teammates (Conley and Gobert played for the Jazz at the same time) Conley. In this game, Gobert got 8 points, 14 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal, with a plus/minus of +30. As the rebounding king of this game, Gobert is full of intimidation on the defensive end. At the same time, Gobert repeatedly sent violent dunks, and also broke down the Nuggets' restricted area defense. In the Jokic era, the Nuggets scored no more than 80 points in a single game on 3 occasions, including 2 times in this round vs Timberwolves, 1 time in the 20 vs Jazz series, and it is worth noting that there were Gobert on the opposite side of the 3 times.
Gobert's ability to contribute immensely on both ends of the floor is inseparable from the chemistry and chemistry that has been established between him and Conley. After the game, the camera captured a conversation between Gobert and Conley on the way back to the players' tunnel. Gobert said to Conley: "Don't leave me alone on the court anymore. Conley responded, "I'm not going to do that again." ”
Conley and Goebel
In addition, Conley, as the assist king of this campaign, led the team to achieve a double double score of 5 players and all soldiers. And, Conley did a good job of limiting Murray's play. Murray was under his main defense, making just 4 of 18 shots. Edwards also praised Conley in his post-match interview. On why the G6 team is playing so well, Edwards said: "Conley is back, that's it. ”
Edwards & Conley
Conley, who contributed 13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block in 5 of 9 (3 of 5 3-pointers) in this game, had 0 turnovers and a plus/minus of +26. Conley's top-notch defense, excellent passing ability, excellent long-range shooting ability and strong court control ability all contributed to the Timberwolves' complete victory over their opponents.
Murray's crotch
The Nuggets' backcourt giant Jamal Murray is completely down. Murray shot 4-of-18 from the field and 2-of-7 from three-point range to finish with just 10 points, two rebounds and five assists. Murray shot just 22 percent from the field and dropped to 29 percent from three-point range. In the first half, Murray was 1-of-10 from the field and 0-of-3 from three-point range, scoring just two points. Murray didn't score in the final quarter, and his plus/minus was a game-low -32. On both offensive and defensive ends, Murray was blown up by the Timberwolves guard line led by Edwards and Conley.
Murray was trapped
Murray's performance was extremely stretched, and while playing crazy iron on the offensive end, he couldn't limit Conley and Edwards' rampage. In this playoffs, Murray continued to have a sluggish performance, shooting just 39.1% from the field and 31.3% from three-point range. Except for the two defeats to the Lakers in the first round, Murray has rarely performed well in this playoffs.