Timberwolves Destroy Nuggets to Force a Game Seven
The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets split the first four games of this series, before heading back to Denver for some Game Five action. During Game Five on Tuesday night the Nuggets defeated Minnesota 112-97 to take a 3-2 series lead behind a miraculous 40 points, 13 assists, and seven rebounds performance from the NBA’s MVP Nikola Jokic making it the first time Minnesota has lost three straight games this season. On Thursday night as this Game Six took place in Minnesota, facing elimination, the Timberwolves knew they had to win this one and that is exactly what they accomplished as they not only defeated but destroyed the Nuggets 115-70, making it the second largest playoff win when facing elimination in NBA playoff history, to force a Game Seven in Denver on Sunday night.
Denver started this game with a 9-2 lead making everyone in the stands believe the Timberwolves 2024 playoff run was over. However, Minnesota quickly erased their concerns as they went on a 27-2 run and never looked back, ending the first quarter up 31-14 on the defending NBA Champions. While the second quarter was closer from the aspect of total quarter points scored as the Timberwolves scored 28 and Denver scored 26, Minnesota was no doubt still in control as they went on a 13-0 run during the second quarter to help them head into the locker room up 59-40. The third quarter was just about as evenly matched scoring-wise as the second leaving the Timberwolves up 86-61 as both teams headed to the final quarter. While Christian Braun would make an impressive dunk early in the final period, his dunk was followed by a 24-0 run by Minnesota that put this game more than out of reach as Michael Malone would put in all the Nuggets bench to signal this one was officially over. It was a disastrous game for Denver who missed 60 shots as a team and shot 30% in the game from the field, the lowest they have ever shot in franchise playoff history.
Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 27 points, in addition to being a threat on the defensive end finishing with three steals. Jaden McDaniels was also very helpful for Minnesota in this game as he finished with 21 points shooting 8-10 from the field. Jokic was the only player on the Nuggets roster who seemed to be able to get anything accomplished finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds. The other half of Denver’s dynamic duo, Jamal Murray, really struggled in this game scoring only ten points and shooting 4-18 from the floor. As we head to Game Seven in Denver if any of us were forced to make a decision on who will win the final game of this series we would probably go with the Nuggets as we all know it will be a sleepless night for Minnesota trying to destroy Denver’s wish of being the first back to back NBA Champions since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. However, if anyone wants to predict what will happen in Game Seven, I wish you well.
