Two down. Two to go.
The Denver Nuggets (2-0) took down the Minnesota Timberwolves (0-2), 122-113, on Wednesday night in what was a sensational battle between the #1 and #8 seed in the Western Conference. Denver led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter, and though Minnesota battled back, ridiculous shot-making carried the Nuggets over the finish line. Both teams had a player finish with at least 40 points in the contest.
"Give them credit, man. We knew at some point, we'd see the aggressive attacking Timberwolves. In that third quarter, we saw it and they played great, and we didn't defend in that third quarter. But I was proud of how we responded in that fourth quarter," said Michael Malone after the game. "We've played eight quarters so far, seven have been great. We had one bad quarter, but we responded and we found a way to get the win. 2-0, that's a good start to the series. We have much work to do."
One of those players was Jamal Murray, who dropped his fifth 40-point game in his playoff career on absurd efficiency: 13-of-22 from the field and 6-for-10 from behind the three-point line. He carried his team across the finish line with a series of tough shots against Minnesota’s pick-and-roll defense, including two massive three-pointers in crunch time.
"I had a lot of fun being in the zone. Feeling the energy I haven't felt in a long time. Feeling the adrenaline, handling the adrenaline," said Murray. "Just coming into the game, I just felt more relaxed and felt more composed. I wasn't as hyped as in the first game. So excited to play my game my way through it and glad to get a dub."
Nikola Jokić was steady throughout the entire contest and nearly had a triple-double with 27 points, 9 assists, and 9 rebounds. He did an excellent job putting both of Minnesota’s big men in trouble, as Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns finished the contest with 5 fouls each.
Michael Porter Jr. also pitched in 16 points. 13 of those points came in the fourth quarter when Murray and Jokić sat, a great follow-up to a fairly quiet 3-point first half.
"I think Mike was phenomenal during that period," said Jokić about Porter Jr.'s 13-point fourth quarter. "And I told him I think that that's why we won the game. He had an 8-0 run by himself. And he brought the energy back and the momentum."
The other player to finish with 40+ points was Anthony Edwards, who was overpowering the entire evening and finished with 41 points on 14-of-23 from the field and 6-of-10 from three.
Both squads shot at least 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from behind the three-point line. However, for the second-straight game, Denver won in points in the paint, 56-44. They also scored more second-chance points, 15-8, despite not having a massive edge in cleaning the glass (Denver grabbed just one more rebound in Wednesday’s contest).
The first six minutes were a virtual standstill. Then, the Nuggets erupted on an 18-7 run behind 14 points from Murray. The Nuggets’ defense steamrolled Minnesota and held their opponent under 23 points for the fifth-straight quarter of the series on just 22.2 percent from the field. Denver finished ahead 31-22.
Minnesota’s struggles on offense remained and did not score a single point until the 9:01 mark of the second quarter. Denver’s bench unit, meanwhile, had no issues putting the ball in the basket and built up an 18-point lead behind 4 points from Bruce Brown and 5 points from Jeff Green. The Nuggets carried that lead into halftime after Jokić hit a three-pointer with one second on the shot clock remaining for a team-high 7 points in the quarter, and Aaron Gordon slammed home a highlight reverse dunk on a putback. Denver finished ahead 64-49 after 24 minutes of play.
Minnesota opened the third quarter on a 13-6 run to bring Denver’s advantage down to just 8 points. Edwards then hit a transition three, Gobert made a fastbreak dunk, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker made another fastbreak layup to cut Denver’s lead down to just 1. Minnesota took its first lead of the game, up 81-80, at the 2:31 mark when Kyle Anderson ripped away a steal from Murray for the fastbreak dunk. Behind a 40-point quarter, the Timberwolves entered the fourth quarter up 89-87.
Porter Jr. opened the fourth on a solo 8-0 run off a made three-pointer plus the foul, a nifty up-and-under reverse layup, and two made free throws. This gave Denver a six-point lead. Minnesota battled back after some absurd shot-making from Edwards to give his squad a 1-point lead at the halfway point. The Nuggets were able to create some airspace when Porter Jr. rose up for a free-throw line jumper. Then, Murray rained in a series of tough shots for 8 ridiculous points to reach the 40-point mark at just under the 2-minute mark. This gave Denver a 9-point lead, an advantage they never relinquished to take a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Timberwolves.
Milestone watch
- Jamal Murray became the first Nugget in franchise history to finish with five 40-point games in the postseason.
- Murray has now dropped more 40-point games in the playoffs than Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving, Oscar Robertson, Karl Malone Alex English, Paul Pierce, Reggie Miller, Tim Duncan, and Magic Johnson.
- Murray also reached 100 made three-pointers in the postseason.
- Nikola Jokić is now the first player in NBA history to average 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in his first 50 playoff games.
- The Denver Nuggets have grabbed a 2-0 series lead for the first time in Michael Malone’s 8-year tenure.
- This is just the fifth time in franchise history that the Nuggets have gone up 2-0 in a playoff series.
- Murray tied Andre Miller for 11th on the Nuggets’ all-time leaderboard in steals with 34. Murray also passed Dikembe Mutombo for 16th place on the Nuggets’ rebounding leaderboard with 163.
- Michael Porter Jr. passed Paul Millsap for 15th place on the Nuggets’ all-time playoff scoring leaderboard with 417 total points.