MINNEAPOLIS — The Denver Nuggets are too determined, experienced, proud and talented to let failure in the first two games be the hallmark of this series against the rising Minnesota Timberwolves. There were too many.
This is what the defending NBA champions do. Silence the raucous crowd, accept the boos, and quickly regain momentum.
In the Western Conference semifinals, Jamal Murray bounced back from a rough start with 24 points to lead the Nuggets to a close 117-90 victory in Game 3 on Friday night, giving the Timberwolves their last loss in the NBA this postseason. became a team.
“Honestly, it makes me feel a little bit better because I have to react,” said Murray, who was booed en masse every time he touched the ball. “Then you have to buckle up and be there for your teammates.”
Three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, Michael Porter Jr. had 21 points, and the Nuggets held on to Minnesota’s series lead by 2 on 14-of-29 shooting. Reduced to -1. 3 point range.
Anthony Edwards quietly led the Timberwolves with 19 points, but he shot just 10 of 32 from deep despite Karl-Anthony Towns going 4 of 5.
Towns (14 points) didn’t make enough shots and played slower than in the first two games in Denver, allowing a lead of as many as 34 points.
“I take responsibility for this loss. I came out with no energy at all. I can’t afford to do that for my team. I let the team down, I let the coach down, I let the fans down. ” Edwards said. “I’ll be ready on Sunday.”
The Nuggets became the 30th team in NBA playoff history to lose the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series. Five people came together for victory.
“You’re always testing and discovering human nature and human caliber,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said.
It was a much-needed step forward for Denver, which broke the 100-point barrier for the first time in three games against the NBA’s best defense in Minnesota.
“Everything was sharp. Everything was fast,” Jokic said.
Murray, who had just 25 points on 9-of-32 shooting and a minus-38 rating in his first two games, was fined $100,000 by the NBA for throwing a heat pack onto the floor from the bench.
The stone-faced point guard has improved with his combination of spot-up jumpers and fadeaways off the dribble handoff, evident after three days to rest a strained left calf muscle that has been hampering him in recent weeks. The spring in the step has been increased. .
Jokic and Aaron Gordon were the starting points for the attack, taking some of the ball-handling burden off Murray.
“His teammates got him free, but he was aggressive and saw the ball go in early,” Malone said. “I think he enjoys the moment he’s the bad guy.”
The defending champions not only brought the energy they promised to return after a no-show at home, but also hit enough shots to help keep the Timberwolves and their active rotation honest. The whistle was getting louder, and Timberwolves defensive ace Jaden McDaniels was limited in action due to foul trouble.
The Timberwolves, who dominated Phoenix and dominated Denver in the first two games, had their first reality check after an impressive Game 2 win in Denver. “Four Wolves!” The chant that erupted just before the opening tip quickly died down.
The Nuggets slowly fought their way to a 28-20 lead after the first quarter, their largest lead of the series to date, and they didn’t stop there. They led by 20 points at the end of the second quarter.
The Timberwolves brought back NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who missed Game 2 due to the birth of his son, but his long arm didn’t matter much as the Nuggets moved the ball well outside of the paint. There wasn’t.
Gordon made back-to-back 3-pointers, and Porter made one on the next possession midway through the third quarter to make it 72-50 and deny the Wolves another mini-rally.
By the beginning of the fourth inning, fans were starting to file out of their seats.
That night, Wolves reserves Nickell Alexander-Walker and Kyle Anderson were given technical fouls during a timeout with 5 minutes, 54 seconds left for an altercation with an official, adding to the cumulative criticism against them that night. I was irritated.
“We earned the right to be talked about, but at the end of the day, we knew they were going to turn it into a series,” Alexander-Walker said.
