The greatest feat in the history of the Minnesota Timberwolves. They win Game 7 in Denver 98-90, close the second round playoff series 4-3 and reach the Conference final in the West. They eliminate the reigning champions by coming back from -20 in the second half, no one so far in the history of the playoffs had recovered in Game 7 from down more than 11 points at halftime and the Wolves at the Ball Arena were 15 behind at half-time.
choral victory
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They make a masterpiece without even needing great individual offensive performances. No one scores more than 23 points and Ant Edwards, the best player, shoots 6/24 from the field. The man of the match comes off the bench, Naz Reid, the NBA 6th man of the year, who with Towns sitting with 5 fouls makes the difference in sprinting on both sides of the pitch. And it gives Minny, who has never played in the Finals in its history, the meeting in the Western Conference final with the Dallas Mavericks, equaling the franchise’s best result since 2004. Game 1 will take place in Minneapolis from 2.30 am Italian between Wednesday and Thursday.
collapse nuggets
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Resounding. Embarrassing, even. The defending champions essentially find themselves playing 2 against 6 in the decisive match of the season. The inside/outside one. Jokic and Murray don’t betray, but they are abandoned by their teammates. As long as they hold on physically they dominate, precisely up to +20, then in the 48′ they inevitably pay the price. Porter and Gordon do all sorts of things, Caldwell-Pope never scores a basket, the bench doesn’t exist. He scores just 5 points against 13 opponents – 11 from Reid – the 8 difference that decides the match. Jokic finished with 34 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists, forcing Gobert into 6 fouls, Murray with 35 points. But the rest of the team scores just 21. Twenty-one. For the sixth season in a row, the reigning champions fail to make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. The NBA these days has deleted the word dynasty.
monologue denver
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Low scoring first quarter. With the Wolves’ athleticism in evidence, McDaniels above all, yet a couple of triples from Murray allow the hosts to close ahead 24-19. Because the Wolves shoot 8/22 with Edwards doubled and the others not taking advantage. Towns keeps him in the game by taking advantage of the opponents’ defensive “changes” that are favorable to him, but Denver dominates in rebounding and goes into halftime ahead 53-38. Murray with 24 points, Jokic 13 and 15 rebounds. Edwards just 4 points shooting 1/7, Gobert 3 points without field goals. In short, the Nuggets’ stars make the difference in the first 24 minutes by outclassing their opponents. 38 points in the first half are a season low for the Wolves. A triple from Murray at the start of the second half even made it 58-38, then the unthinkable happened.
wolves comeback
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A 15-1 counterattack brings the Wolves back down. It happens that Denver misses 6 open shots in a row. Minny returns with the defense. Or rather: the Nuggets miss comfortable 3-pointers and mid-range shots one after the other, thus giving confidence and transition to the visiting attack. Just 67-66 Denver after 36′: Edwards finds courage, scores a triple at the end of the period. Nuggets terrified, only Jokic scores a basket: 13 of just 14 points in the 3rd quarter are scored by the Joker and Murray. Teammates intimidated by the pressure. And all inertia for the Wolves now. A basket from Gobert leads to the overtaking at the start of the 4th quarter, Minny +5 with 5′ to play, with Reid being decisive. Edwards’ triple closes the score at 92-82. Denver abdicates. He has a lot to blame himself for this match and for the series, throw it away. Minnesota completes an epochal comeback and is already thinking about the next round: it will be Edwards against Doncic, Minnesota will have the favorable field factor.
Denver: Murray 35 (9/15, 4/11, 5/5 TL), Jokic 34, Porter 7. Rebounds: Jokic 19. Assists: Jokic 7.
Minnesota: Towns 23 (7/8, 1/6, 6/6 TL), McDaniels 21, Edwards 16. Rebounds: Towns 11. Assists: Edwards 7.
