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The defending NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, were absolutely outclassed in Game 2 of their Western Conference Semifinals matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, falling behind 0-2 in the series despite […]
The defending NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, were absolutely outclassed in Game 2 of their Western Conference Semifinals matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, falling behind 0-2 in the series despite holding homecourt advantage.
With their backs against the wall, the Nuggets had no choice but to play their best basketball. After a Michael Porter Jr. miss, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope opened up the game’s scoring with a jumper. Jamal Murray followed up with a layup to make it 4-0, an early showcase of Murray’s aggressiveness towards the basket on the evening.
Denver took a 28-20 lead at the end of the first quarter despite just five points from Nikola Jokic. Murray had eight points in the first quarter, immediately bouncing back from a poor Game 2 performance in spite of boos from the Target Center crowd every time the point guard touched the ball.
The Nuggets continued attacking in the second quarter, nailing back-to-back three-pointers from Justin Holiday and Murray to open up a 34-20 lead.
Karl Anthony-Towns answered with a three-pointer of his own, his third in as many tries, to put a momentary stop to the Nuggets run, but a pair of free throws from Porter Jr. and a Caldwell-Pope jumper made it 38-23, giving Denver a 15-point lead just 15 minutes in to the game.
For a Nuggets team that has started slow nearly every game this postseason, including Game 2’s atrocity, it was an extremely welcome change of pace for head coach Michael Malone to work with.
Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves just weren’t getting shots to fall like they were in Game 2. Minnesota trailed by as many as 20 points following a Christian Braun three-pointer to make the score 45-25.
Minnesota countered with a 7-0 run, with five of those points coming after Naz Reid (who has been an incredible spark for the Timberwolves this series) was subbed in.
But Denver went on a 6-0 run of their own in this streaky game, getting buckets from Porter Jr. and Jokic as well as a pair of free throws from Reggie Jackson.
Jokic was relatively quiet in the first half, partly due to the Timberwolves defense and partly due to the now-three-time NBA MVP’s (the first time I’m officially writing that about the Serbian center) affinity for passing. Jokic finished the first half with 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, well on his way to a potential triple double (he did finish one assist shy), in 21 minutes on the court.
Murray led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting at the half as the Nuggets led 56-41, flipping the script from Game 2 upside-down. The Nuggets were hitting their shots, playing defense, and forcing turnovers. Minnesota shot just 39.5% in the first half, compared to 53.8% for Denver, and committed four turnovers to the Nuggets’ three.
The Nuggets came out of the halftime break with their best quarter of the night: a 37-25 advantage in the third quarter to put the game out of reach for Minnesota. Aaron Gordon opened the second half scoring for Denver with a bullseye three-pointer. But he didn’t stop there: Gordon swished two more three-pointers, and Porter Jr. hit one as well, to blow open the game and give the Nuggets a 72-50 lead just four minutes in to the third quarter.
Then the Nuggets remembered they have the best basketball player in the world, and Nikola Jokic scored five of the next six buckets for Denver, including a three-pointer. By the end of the quarter, the Nuggets had a 93-66 lead following a pair of Jokic free throws.
Minnesota opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run, but it didn’t even put a dent in the Nuggets’ nearly 30-point lead to start the period.
By the time Porter Jr. nailed his second three-pointer of the fourth quarter alone, the Nuggets were up 105-75: a 30-point lead, on a night where Denver led by as many as 34 points.
Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, Justin Holiday, and eventually even Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett, and Hunter Tyson, all saw the court in the final moments of the blowout win. DeAndre Jordan was the only one of the Nuggets’ 14 active players that didn’t check in to the game: saving the “garbage” playing time for some young players that could benefit more from it.
With the 117-90 win on the road, the Nuggets stopped their two-game skid and made this a potential series against the Timberwolves. It would still be extremely beneficial for the Nuggets to steal Game 4 as well, but it would be possible to win this series in seven games even if the Nuggets return to Denver down 3 games to 1 in Game 5.
By his own standards, Nikola Jokic didn’t have the biggest night ever, but the three-time NBA MVP was clearly the most important player on the court for either team. Jokic finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks: the first player in NBA history to post that particular stat line (or better) in the playoffs. Jokic finished with a +30 court rating, and connected on 10-of-18 of his field goal attempts in 38 minutes.
Jamal Murray may still be battling a lingering injury, but he didn’t let it show in Game 3. Murray scored 24 points (matching Jokic for the team-high) on 11-of-21 shooting, bouncing back from a poor Game 2 showing. Murray found the basket however he wanted against the Timberwolves defense: driving to the hoop, stepping back in mid-range, and hitting 2-of-5 of his three-point attempts. Murray also notched 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Michael Porter Jr., the third head of the Nuggets offensive juggernaut performance, scored 21 points on a clean 6-of-10 shooting, nailing 4-of-5 of his three-point attempts and adding 5 points at the free throw line.
Besides that, Aaron Gordon had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting including a surprising 3-of-4 three-point shooting performance that was actually teased in the first quarter of Game 2. Rounding out the starters, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists on 3-of-6 shooting, making the right play nearly every time he touched the ball (and finishing with zero turnovers in 37 minutes.) Caldwell-Pope finished with a game-high +31 court rating.
As a team, the Nuggets shot 53.8% from the field and 48.3% from three-point range, connecting on 14-of-29 attempts.
The Timberwolves couldn’t keep up, shooting 43.7% from the field and 30.3% from three, all while turning the ball over more often than the Nuggets and surrending more offensive rebounds.
Minnesota didn’t have a 20-point scorer, with Anthony Edwards’ 19 points (along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists) leading the way. Edwards shot just fine, 8-of-15 from the field, but couldn’t get the Timberwolves’ offense going with a signature 30+ point performance.
The Nuggets handed the Timberwolves their first loss of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, with Minnesota being the last team to lose a game out of the 16-team field. The Timberwolves were previously 6-0 against the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets in this postseason.
It was inevitable the Nuggets would win at least one game, but winning with such dominance on the road might give Denver the hope they need to continue fighting in this series. Again, Game 4 isn’t technically a must-win, but coming back to Ball Arena for Game 5, with the series tied 2-2, would essentially create a new series: a best-of-three, with two of the three potential games taking place at Ball Arena.
Will the Nuggets continue to come back in this series, or were the Timberwolves just due for a loss somewhere along the way? How will Minnesota respond in Game 4?
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