MINNEAPOLIS – The Denver Nuggets were far from done after losing the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals at home in humiliating fashion.
Nikola Jokic scored 16 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, and Aaron Gordon had 27 points on 11-of-12 shooting to propel the Nuggets to a 115-107 victory over the Timberwolves on Sunday night in Game 4.
“It’s like sharp focus,” Gordon said, “and surgical execution.”
Jamal Murray had 12 of his 19 points in the third quarter for the defending champion Nuggets, in a transfer of momentum from his thunderous shot from behind midcourt, and the Wolves only got the deficit under double digits in the second half for a total from 3:19.
Anthony Edwards scored 44 points in another spectacular performance for Minnesota that set a postseason franchise record, going 16 of 25. But despite a 42-31 rebounding advantage, the Wolves were beaten at their own game for the second straight time. at home.
“Game 2 definitely woke us up,” Murray said. “We realized we can’t hold back.”
The series returns to Denver for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
“This is a series. We won two games, but we didn’t think it would be easy,” Edwards said.
Mike Conley had 15 points, Karl-Anthony Towns went just 5-of-18 from the field for 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Rudy Gobert came alive late to score 11 points and grab 14 rebounds. Even so, the Wolves were behind at home for the second game in a row.
The Nuggets scored eight straight points in 20 seconds to close the first half, highlighted by Murray’s improbable drive.
Gordon didn’t miss until there was 3:39 left. Most importantly, he took the lead in pursuit of Towns and even made a few turns trying to slow Edwards down.
“The shooting, the playmaking, the physicality, the defense on two All-Stars, a lot is being asked of him right now,” coach Mike Malone said. “What you love about Aaron Gordon from day one when he put on a Nuggets uniform has always been about the Nuggets first. He is truly selfless.”
The three days off between Games 2 and 3 did the Wolves no good, yielding a 27-point defeat, after which coach Chris Finch declared they felt “fat and lazy” after all the adulation near and far for his performance in Denver. They needed to reintroduce their advantage immediately to keep the crowd roaring consistently, and Edwards dutifully led that response.
The 2020 first overall draft pick scored nine points in the first four minutes before Murray even touched the ball, with Gordon and Jokic sharing point guard duties to reduce the burden on Murray and his strained left calf muscle.
After a quiet Game 3, Edwards was on a mission to make the Wolves win, as the Nuggets had hoped. Their lane attack wasn’t enough, as he hit from everywhere on the court, but the rest of the Wolves often failed to make the Nuggets pay for leaving them open.
They missed tips at the rim, not just at Turn 3. Towns missed his first seven shots, and while his effort and defense never suffered, he was a mess trying to get the ball to the basket, rarely drawing the fouls he saved.
“It’s a shame that on Mother’s Day I have a shooting performance like that,” Towns said. “But that’s how the game goes. Sometimes it’s not a fun game.”
The Wolves showed their league’s best defense and enviable depth in the first two games, but the Nuggets copied and pasted that formula on the road. When your secondary scorers and bench players are hitting their jumpers, they are terribly difficult to beat.
Gordon, Justin Holiday (10 points), Christian Braun (11 points) and Reggie Jackson (six points) combined for 8 of 11 from 3-point range. They fueled a 26-4 run that spanned the first and second quarters, and all but five of their points came with four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Gobert resting on the bench.
“They’re doing all the dirty little things that nobody notices,” Jokic said.
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