DENVER, May 8 ------ Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns powered Minnesota’s 106-80 blitz of the Denver Nuggets that gave the Timberwolves a 2-0 lead in the NBA Western Conference semifinals over the reigning but reeling NBA champions. Towns and Edwards both scored 27 points as the Wolves improved to 6-0 in the playoffs and gave themselves a chance to close out the fuming Nuggets with wins.
So dominant were the Wolves that they had the Nuggets throwing both fits (Michael Malone) and objects onto the court (Jamal Murray). Aaron Gordon led Denver with 20 points, Nikola Jokic had 16 points and 16 rebounds but their third-leading scorer was sub Justin Holliday with 13 points. Murray scored 8 points on 3-of-18 shooting.
The Wolves staggered the Nuggets with body blow after body blow even though their starting center Rudy Gobert was back home in Minneapolis attending the birth of his son Sunday. But they didn’t need Gobert’s shot blocking prowess and rim protection on this night to continue their domination of the Nuggets at Ball Arena, where Denver was 36-8 before their back-to-back losses to Minnesota. Kyle Andeson replaced Gobert in the starting lineup and the Timberwolves hounded Jokic and disrupted Denver’s offense just the same.
During a 43-18 first-half flourish by the Timberwolves Edwards was on the bench for much of it, no less the Nuggets grew so frustrated that Malone ran way out onto the court and got in official Marc Davis’ face for an extended blowup during a timeout and somehow avoided a technical. So did Murray after Denver’s ailing point guard threw a heat pack onto the court in frustration as Towns was about to score on a layup in the second quarter. It wasn’t clear if the officials realized it was Murray who threw the object onto the court and not a fan. He will likely face punishment from the league, however.
Frustrated by their slow starts — the Nuggets have trailed by double digits in six of their seven playoff games and by nine in the other — Malone challenged his team to get off to a strong start for once. “What are we waiting for?” he pleaded after Sunday’s practice. Only Aaron Gordon heeded his coach’s call, scoring 13 quick points, including a 3-pointer that brought the Nuggets to 18-17 late in the first quarter. Things unraveled for Denver after that because Jokic was the only other starter to score for the Nuggets before the second quarter. Jokic had just eight points by halftime and Murray, still bothered by a strained left calf, scored just two first-half points for the duo’s worst offensive output in a half this season. Trailing 61-35 at the break, the Nuggets’ 26-point halftime deficit was Denver’s largest in a home playoff game in franchise history. The Wolves led 82-60 after three quarters and cruised the rest of the way.
In New York, Jalen Brunson has become the fourth player to score 40 or more points in four consecutive postseason games, the first since Michael Jordan in the 1993 NBA Finals. Brunson reached 40 with a big fourth quarter Monday night and finished with 43 to rally the Knicks to a 121-117 victory in Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks trailed by nine early in the fourth quarter before Brunson scored 21 in the final period.
Lakers Hall of Famer Jerry West holds the record with six consecutive games of 40 or more points, set during the 1965 postseason. Bernard King had four straight for the Knicks in 1984 and Jordan did it en route to his third straight NBA championship. Brunson finished the first-round series against Philadelphia with games of 47, 40 and 41 points. The 27-year-old Brunson was the leading scorer in the first round of the NBA playoffs with 35.5 points per game.
Editor's Note:
Here are the current standing of Semi Finals NBA Playoffs:
Eastern Conference:
Boston Celtics - Cleveland Cavaliers -
New York Knicks - 1 Indiana Pacers - 0
Western Conference:
Oklahoma Thunder - Dallas Mavericks -
Minnesota Timberwolves - 2 Denver Nuggets - 0
Source: inquirer.net