The Minnesota Timberwolves gave us a Game 7.
Flexing the defensive muscles that made them the NBA’s stingiest team during the regular season, the Timberwolves defeated the Denver Nuggets 115-70 in Game 6 on Thursday to keep their season alive. Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday in Denver (time TBD).
The margin of victory was the second largest for a team facing elimination in NBA history.
Anthony Edwards, who powered the victory with 27 points, looked ready for the first Game 7 of his career. Minnesota outscored the Nuggets by 43 points while on the floor, a franchise playoff record.
The entire game was a stunning reversal of the series’ momentum. The Nuggets entered Thursday having won their last three games, having looked most impressive in a Game 5 loss. The Timberwolves needed a lift, and they got it from a raucous Target Center crowd.
This crowd got what they wanted early. After a few minutes of back and forth, the Timberwolves went on a 27-2 run to build a lead that would never fall below double digits. The game wasn’t over yet, but the Nuggets were behind for the first time since lopsided losses in Games 1 and 2.
Denver tried to adjust with a lineup change to start the second quarter. Typically, league MVP Nikola Jokić rests on the bench at the start of the second and fourth quarters, but he was there when the action resumed. The move paid short-term dividends, reducing the 17-point lead at the start of the frame to 11.
The Timberwolves responded with a 13-0 run to regain control and ended the half on a buzzer-beater from Jaden McDaniels.
The lead never dipped below 19 points in the second half, but the Timberwolves saw a different kind of scare late in the third quarter when Edwards was fouled hard. He remained face down on the court and almost motionless for over a minute, but remained in the game and did not appear to be too impaired.
Minutes later, with their team up 24-0 and racing to extend the lead to 49, the Timberwolves fans chanted “Wolves in seven.”
Will the Timberwolves overcome the Nuggets in Game 7?
The Timberwolves figure to enter a different environment on Sunday.
As impressive as it looked Thursday, Minnesota will enter the home of a defending champion and league MVP. The Nuggets have already shown in this series that they can bounce back from a disheartening loss, going from a 26-point loss in Game 2 to a 27-point victory in Game 3.
It will be a hostile crowd in Denver against a team with better playoff experience, in a series defined by wild swings in fortune. The Timberwolves obviously shouldn’t regret beating the Nuggets by 45, but they should know full well that their Game 6 performance won’t mean much when the ball is turned over again.
