For the sixth consecutive year there will be a new champion: the Nuggets lose game 7 against the Timberwolves (98-90). Elimination also for the Knicks: 130-109 score
There NBA is preparing to have a new champion. THE Denver Nuggets in fact, they abdicated in game 7, allowing themselves to be put back on by the team Minnesota Timberwolves: from -20 in the third quarter to the 98-90 victory, which is worth the passage to the round and the final in the West against Dallas. Sad elimination also for the New York Knickswhich sink at Madison Square Garden against Indiana: the Pacers dominate and go on to win with a score of 130-109, giving themselves the challenge to the Celtics.
DENVER NUGGETS-MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 90-98 (3-4)
The champion’s curse also hits Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets, who fail to defend the title and sink in a surprising manner in game 7: the Minnesota Timberwolves will challenge the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference final, after having won 98 -90 in the decisive match. The match unfolds with rhythms and proportions that seem to favor the reigning champions, because at half-way through the match Denver finds itself at +15 and in the third quarter it extends to +20, and then disappears. Minnesota wakes up like its leader Anthony Edwards, who was stuck at just four points, and finds the sensational comeback from the underworld: a last quarter of 32-23 does the rest, handing the victory to the guests. The Nuggets’ performance is disappointing from every point of view, and the emblem of the defeat is Jamal Murray: dominant until the beginning of the third quarter, with 29 points on the scoresheet, he disappears from the field towards the end and closes with 35.
Nikola Jokic is more continuous, never leaving the field in the second half and finishing with 34 points and 18 rebounds (plus 7 assists), but also with rare shooting inaccuracies: Minnesota forces him to shoot threes and his percentages are low, with a sad 13/28 from the field (7/16 in the second half). The Nuggets’ supporting cast is even worse, because the rest of the team (six elements) scores only 21 points in total with a paltry 8/28 from the field: the best is Michael Porter Jr. at seven, an insufficient figure to pass the shift. The T’Wolves, on the other hand, are more of a team, rightly celebrating their access to the final stage of the Western Conference. Karl-Anthony Towns, who also found 12 rebounds, and McDaniels are the top scorers with 23 points, but all the spotlight is on Anthony Edwards. The Minnesota star is dominant in the second half (+25 plus/minus) and finishes with 16 points overall after an anonymous first half, in a team that scores six in double figures and gives itself a penultimate act as the favorite thanks to a defense sumptuous: Minnesota can beat Dallas and reach the final, even if nothing in the NBA should be taken for granted. This series and this challenge teach us this.
NEW YORK KNICKS-INDIANA PACERS 109-130 (3-4)
Madison Square Garden witnesses the sad elimination of the New York Knicks, who in fact never compete against a dominant version of the Indiana Pacers: 67% from the field and 54% from three, with the entire quintet in double figures, to win 130-109 and reach the Eastern final against the Boston Celtics. The game is constantly in the hands of the guests, who impose their pace and never allow room for the Knicks to comeback: from +15 in the first half to a clear victory, never really in question despite the hostile climate at the Garden. Indiana reaches the final in perfect psychophysical condition and shows off a dominant Haliburton, who will finish with 26 points and as his top scorer. Behind him, Siakam and Nembhard shine, reaching 20 ahead of Nesmith (19) and Turner (17), but a great contribution also comes from TJ McConnell: 12 points to help the starting point guard get his best breath.
Numbers that are the emblem of the Pacers’ extraordinary performance, while everything goes wrong for the Knicks: Anunoby lasts five minutes, Hart is limited by an injury and Brunson raises the white flag due to a fractured hand. The New York star has to witness the final stages of his team’s elimination from the bench, after a performance that cannot satisfy him: 17 points in 29 minutes, shooting 6/17 from the field with extreme pain, making him only the third scorer of his . To make up for his complicated evening, Alec Burks played perhaps one of the best games of the season and closed with 26 points, but his performance and Donte DiVincenzo’s 39 points (9/15 from three) were not enough to avoid a sad elimination. Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves: they will therefore be the ones to play for the title. The Conference finals will start on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.
