T-Wolves crush Nuggets in six, advance to face Spurs in NBA Playoffs

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T-Wolves crush Nuggets in six, advance to face Spurs in NBA Playoffs originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Timberwolves have defeated the Denver Nuggets in six games. In doing so, this is the earliest playoff exit for the Denver Nuggets since the 2017-18 season when they missed the playoffs altogether. 

Minnesota was the aggressor for almost the entire game. Denver did not have an answer for Jaden McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr who scored 32 and 24 points respectively. While neither shot the three well, 2 for 11, their energy and constant attacking the basket became an issue.  

Minnesota led all team stats with the exception of field goal and free throw percentage. Minnesota had almost double the turnovers as Denver. The Nuggets final lead in this game came in the six minute mark of the second quarter. Without Aaron Gordon in the lineup, Denver struggled to control the paint. Minnesota built its largest lead with only a minute remaining in the game. 

Minnesota now has to hope they can get healthy before facing San Antonio. They will need Anthony Edwards back in the lineup if they want to make a series of it vs the Spurs. 

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Nuggets vs. T-Wolves live updates, highlights from Game 6 of NBA playoffs

Team Stats

DEN MIN
FG 34-75 43-94
Field Goal % 45 46
3PT 10-27 7-29
Three Point % 37 24
FT 20-25 17-24
Free Throw % 80 71
Rebounds 33 50
Offensive Rebounds 6 19
Defensive Rebounds 27 31
Assists 24 26
Steals 4 8
Blocks 8 3
Total Turnovers 13 8
Points Conceded Off Turnovers 16 10
Fast Break Points 7 13
Points in Paint 40 64
Fouls 26 21
Technical Fouls 1 2
Flagrant Fouls 0 0
Largest Lead 5 12
Percent Led 11 80

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeat the Denver Nuggets to advance. The Timberwolves will face the San Antonio Spurs in the next round. 

4th Quarter-0:25: Jamal Murray takes a 23-foot three-point shot but misses long. Rebound by Rudy Gobert. Julius Randle dribbled the clock down. Minnesota wins. 

4th Quarter-0:37: Minnesota inbounded deep, Denver attempted to foul but Minnesota called a timeout before they could.

4th Quarter-0:55: Julius Randle missed the second of two free throws. Denver did not secure the rebound. Jokic then fouled Gobert. Gobert makes both free throws. Minnesota holds the largest lead of the game (10) with 43 seconds remaining.  

4th Quarter-1:07: Jaden McDaniels sinks a 19-foot jumper. 

4th Quarter-1:43: Terrence Shannon Jr drives the lane and was fouled, count the basket. Shannon made the free throw. 

4th Quarter-2:03: Rudy Gobert foul on Jamal Murray. Murray hit both free throws. 

4th Quarter-4:50: Rudy Gobert followed the cutter on a pick and roll, he appeared to hit both Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic in the head. Foul called on Gobert. Officials review. The Officials upheld the call. The replay showed a Gobert shove in the back, then Jokic making some contact with Gobert before he struck Murray. Simple loose ball foul on Gobert. 

4th Quarter-5:05: Cameron Jordan hit a 23-foot three-point shot. He is 5 of 9 from three. 

4th Quarter-5:53: Terrence Shannon Jr hits a three-point shot. Shannon currently has 21 points and 5 rebounds in his first career playoff start. 

4th Quarter-7:46: Naz Reid hits a 22-foot three-point shot, Rudy Gobert assisted. 

4th Quarter-8:45: Nikola Jokic makes a 2-foot layup. 

4th Quarter-9:47: Jaylen Clark was initially assessed a regular personal foul when he and Nikola Jokic got tangled up. Clark shoved Jokic. Jokic gestured to the official. When the official didn’t do anything in that moment, Jokic shoved back. Both men fell to the floor. There was an official review, after which, Clark, Naz Ried and Jokic were assessed technicals. The home crowd wanted Jokic ejected. The two MIN technicals and one DEN technical resulted in a foul shot for Denver, the crowd booed. The booth brought in Steve Javie. 

Javie: Reid is actually lucky. I’m sure there was a discussion about ejection for being an escalator of the situation. In the replay you can see Reid shove Jokic in the back. 

4th Quarter-10:26: Cameron Jordan makes a 25-foot three point shot to narrow the Timberwolves lead to 4.

4th Quarter-11:30: Spencer Jones makes a 22-foot three-point shot, assisted by Tim Hardaway Jr. 

Team Stats

DEN MIN
FG 28-60 33-74
Field Goal % 47 45
3PT 7-18 5-24
Three Point % 39 21
FT 11-14 11-16
Free Throw % 79 69
Rebounds 27 38
Offensive Rebounds 5 13
Defensive Rebounds 22 25
Assists 20 21
Steals 3 7
Blocks 8 2
Total Turnovers 12 6
Points Conceded Off Turnovers 13 7
Fast Break Points 7 12
Points in Paint 36 52
Fouls 18 14
Technical Fouls 0 0
Flagrant Fouls 0 0
Largest Lead 5 9
Percent Led 15 74

Minnesota leads Denver 82-74 at the end of the 3rd quarter. 

3rd Quarter-2:13: Jaden McDaniels converts a 10-foot pull up jumper. 

3rd Quarter-3:12: Nikola Jokic drives from the right elbow as Rudy Gobert attempts to run through the screen, Jokic scores at the rim. 

3rd Quarter-4:00: Jaden McDaniels drives down the middle of the paint scoring a short range shot in traffic. 

3rd Quarter-3:58: Terrence Shannon Jr strikes again with a driving layup. 

3rd Quarter-5:28: Naz Reid makes a 9-foot driving floater.

3rd Quarter-7:11: Cameron Johnson hits a 22-foot three from the corner, assisted by Jokic. 

3rd Quarter-8:07: Terrence Shannon Jr scores 4 points in two consecutive possessions. 

3rd Quarter-8:50: Mike Conley makes a 25-foot three-point shot. 

3rd Quarter-9:44: Rudy Gobert with a short range dunk. 

3rd Quarter-10:41: Nikola Jokic makes 11-foot jumper. 

Halftime: Timberwolves 57, Nuggets 50

Team Stats

Halftime Nuggets  T-Wolves
FG 19-41 22-49
Field Goal % 46 45
3PT 6-14 4-15
Three Point % 43 27
FT 6-8 9-11
Free Throw % 75 82
Rebounds 18 25
Offensive Rebounds 3 8
Defensive Rebounds 15 17
Assists 14 13
Steals 3 6
Blocks 7 2
Total Turnovers 9 5
Points Off Turnovers 9 7
Fast Break Points 5 10
Points in Paint 20 32
Fouls 11 10
Technical Fouls 0 0
Flagrant Fouls 0 0
Largest Lead 5 9

2nd Quarter- 1:05: Cam Johnson splits free throws 55-50 T-Wolves up

2nd Quarter- 1:19: A pair of Jaden McDaniels free throws pushes Minnesota’s lead back up to 55-49 

2nd Quarter- 1:34: Cam Johnson 3-pointer cuts T-wolves’ lead down to 53-49 

2nd Quarter- 2:39: Minnesota takes a 53-44 lead off a 3-pointer by Julius Randle 

2nd Quarter- 3:57: TV timeout. 8-0 run by Minnesota with the Wolves up 48-42 

2nd Quarter- 5:08: two missed 3-pointers by Murray and Jokic, but T-Wolves can’t pull ahead further with a turnover 44-42

2nd Quarter- 6:10: Jokic with a turnback 3-pointer. Denver retakes the lead 42-40

2nd Quarter- 6:50: Jamal Murray hammered to the floor with no call. The refs are letting them play tonight. 40-39 Minnesota leads. 

2nd Quarter- 8:17: Both teams are flying around and playing sloppy. The first one to settle down will take a good lead. 

2nd Quarter- 9:13: T-Wolves take back lead 38-37

2nd Quarter- 10:00: Nuggets take a 37-36 lead with back-and-forth basketball happening. 

2nd Quarter- 10:57: Teams trade buckets with a tie at 34 

End of 1st Quarter: Nuggets 30, Timberwolves 29

Team Stats

1st Quarter  Nuggets T-Wolves
FG 11-18 11-23
Field Goal % 61 48
3PT 3-8 2-6
Three Point % 38 33
FT 5-6 5-7
Free Throw % 83 71
Rebounds 8 10
Offensive Rebounds 0 3
Defensive Rebounds 8 7
Assists 9 7
Steals 2 4
Blocks 3 0
Total Turnovers 5 3
Points Off Turnovers 7 7
Fast Break Points 5 8
Points in Paint 14 16
Fouls 5 5
Technical Fouls 0 0
Flagrant Fouls 0 0
Largest Lead 5 6
Percent Led 29 62

1st Quarter- 17.4 seconds: Cam Johnson splits a pair of free throws for Nuggets 30-29 lead 

1st Quarter- 47.4 seconds: Steal by Hardaway with Jokic assist for Cam Johnson layup with and one 29 all tie

1st Quarter- 1:07: Tim Hardaway Jr. layup pulls Denver within one 27-26

1st Quarter- 1:54: Teams trading buckets with Minnesota up. Tim Hardaway Jr. heads to the free throw line for three shots. Hits all three 27-24 for T-Wolves.  

1st Quarter- 3:00: Bones Hyland splits a pair of free throws 22-16 lead for the T-Wolves

1st Quarter- 3:22: Jaden McDaniels knocks down a jumper for a 21-16 lead

1st Quarter- 3:59: Minnesota jumps out to a 19-13 lead. Jokic clearly fouled on other end with a no-call. The refs are letting the players get physical. 

1st Quarter- 5:03: Both teams are trading baskets with Minnesota holding a 15-13 lead

1st Quarter- 7:19: TV Timeout. Nuggets watch T-Wolves put together a 7-0 run for a 13-7 led. 

1st Quarter- 8:25: T-Wolves and Nuggets trade buckets with Denver up 7-6

1st Quarter- 10:43: Jokic hook gives Nuggets 4-0 early lead

Tip-off for the Nuggets-Timberwolves is now delayed due to the end of the Knicks-Hawks game on ESPN

How to Watch Denver Nuggets (2-3) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-2) Game 5 NBA Playoffs

Thursday, April 30

Tip-off: 9:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN 
Minnesota leads the series 3-2 

Nuggets vs Timberwolves Game 6 will be broadcast by ABC on ESPN and will stream live on the ESPN app.

Now you can watch ESPN without cable. Stream live NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, college sports, plus SportsCenter, First Take, and all your favorite ESPN shows—anytime, anywhere—only in the ESPN app.

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