On May 17, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs division semifinals continued. The Minnesota Timberwolves host the Denver Nuggets.
This is the most high-profile matchup of the round. After Jokic won the MVP trophy before, he seemed to have gained divine power, leading the Nuggets to win three games in a row and leading the Timberwolves 3-2.
Judging from the performance of the previous three games, the Nuggets after the change of formation have taken the Timberwolves from all aspects, and the young Timberwolves do not seem to have found a way to deal with it, and they are losing one after another.
Today's Timberwolves will either succeed or say goodbye to this season, and this is an existential crisis. In times of crisis, can the werewolves' potential be stimulated to give the defending champions a different response?
At the beginning of the first quarter, the Nuggets played very well. Jokic and Porter hit four consecutive shots to beat the Timberwolves 9-2, and the momentum seemed to send the opponent home today.
After the pause, the werewolf's combat power seemed to be activated by a mysterious power similar to the "Blood Moon". McDaniels got up, Towns attacked, Edwards shot how he went, and the Timberwolves hit the Nuggets with a 27-2 attack wave in less than 7 minutes.
In this wave of offense, Edwards scored 14 points alone, and the Nuggets didn't react and were stunned. In the first quarter, the Timberwolves came from behind and set the tone of the game with a 31-14 record.
In the second quarter, Jokic, who had seen a big scene, began to exert his strength, and the score was approaching, and it seemed to be the usual rhythm again. But the difference is that the werewolf's eyes are more determined than before.
First, Edwards scored inside to make Braun foul, and then Reed missed the fast break and grabbed an offensive rebound to complete the rebound. The Timberwolves showed 150 percent energy, playing a beautiful defensive counterattack led by Hanako and Reed, and it took only five minutes to extend the deficit to 23 points.
The mighty Nuggets won't sit still, and Gordon and Porter stepped up to launch a wave of comebacks. But the werewolves who beat the chicken blood did not give the Nuggets any respite, and Conley and McDenis bombarded again, and the score was fixed at 59:40 at the end of the first half.
At halftime, Coach Malone gave the players a meal to cheer everyone up.
In the third quarter, the Nuggets' offense seemed to be more than enough and insufficient, and they were suppressed by the werewolves when they were repeatedly approaching, and they failed to make waves after several attempts. The Timberwolves chased after the victory all the way, widened the point difference, and ended the quarter with 86-61.
The 25-point deficit in the fourth quarter was not without precedent for reversal, and the defending champions wanted to try again. Dreams still have to be had, in case they come true.
However, it took only 2 minutes for the Wolves to dispel the Nuggets' remaining thoughts, and the margin was extended to 30 points. Seeing that they were unable to return to the sky, the Nuggets had to replace all the main forces and replace them with substitute training.
In the fourth quarter, the slaughter of the werewolves is not over, and it seems that they want to unleash all the anger of the previous three games into this killing. In the final quarter, the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets 29-9, which was simply murderous.
In the end, the Timberwolves bloodied the Nuggets 115-70, rewriting the score to 3-3 at their home court, and at the same time giving the Nuggets the most humiliating defeat. The decisive battle scored 9 points in a single quarter and 70 points in the whole game, which is a shameful record to be written in the history books.
Jokic of the Nuggets had 22 points and 9 rebounds, shooting less than 50% from the field, and sat on the sidelines in the fourth quarter thoughtfully. Gordon had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks, and Murray had 10 points and 5 assists.
Timberwolves Edwards 27 points, 4 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals, McDaniels 21 points and 2 blocks, Conley 13 points and 5 assists, Towns 10 points, 13 boards and 5 assists, Reed 10 points and 11 boards, Gobert 8 points and 14 boards.
From 62:43 rebounds and 9:2 steals, you can see the determination of the werewolves to win. 43 rebounds is normal, but 63 rebounds show that they are 1.5 times as energetic as they used to be. And the crushing of the steal shows that they are extremely focused and fast in this game.
The three-point shooting percentage for the Timberwolves also led the way. The strongest defense finally returned, shooting just 19.4 percent from the outside to the Nuggets.
When Jokic held the ball in the high post, the Timberwolves decisively launched a pinch attack to cut off the connection between the ball carrier and the screener. When Murray and Porter broke through with the ball, the Timberwolves pressed and bit the ball carrier on a loose scale. Such a ferocious defense forced the opponent to make 12 turnovers throughout the game.
On the offensive end, they took advantage of their face-frame attacks, with Edwards and Towns ferociously and resolutely ground-and-frame balls to the basket. Conley's return gives the Timberwolves an additional offensive starting point, and his calm reading ability can better mobilize Gobert and Reed to complete efficient offensive operations in the three-second zone.
In short, it is too early for either side to blow in this showdown, and the two sides are equal in strength and have their own advantages. Now that the two sides are back on the same starting line, the showdown of real men has only just begun. The much-anticipated G7 is about to take place, and we'll see what happens.