Two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic saved his best for last to help the Denver Nuggets eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.
Down 112-109 with 2.5 seconds to play, Minnesota’s last gasp was a deep 3 from Anthony Edwards and it banged off the back iron of the rim, with Edwards sprinting off the court and into the locker room seemingly before the ball hit the floor. Denver will face the winner of the Suns-Clippers series in the Western Conference semifinals.
Minnesota, playing without Jaden McDaniels (fractured hand), Naz Reid (fractured wrist) and Kyle Anderson, who injured his left eye in Game 4, fought tooth and nail and had the Nuggets tied 104-104 before Jokic scored five straight points for a 109-104 lead with 28.1 seconds to play.
They then traded buckets – a 3 from Mike Conley, free throws by Bruce Brown and an Edwards layup – to make it 111-109 with 3.4 seconds to go. Jokic then hit one of two free throws, setting the stage for Edwards’s unanswered prayer at the buzzer.
Edwards led the Wolves with 29 points. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 26, scoring 21 in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 28 seconds remaining. Rudy Gobert, who fouled out with 13.2 seconds left in the game, had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Jamal Murray led the No. 1-seeded Nuggets with 35 points, but it was Jokic with 28 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists for the game-changing triple-double.
Denver took over immediately in the fourth quarter. Jamal Murray plotted around a screen and buried a 3 just 13 seconds into the fourth and after a Minnesota miss Aaron Gordon drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws for an 82-77 lead, their biggest lead of the night.
Minnesota responded with a 9-4 run to tie the game at 86. Rudy Gobert had five points during the flurry, three of them on an and-1 dunk on a brilliant entry pass from Towns.
KAT throwing some great entry passes to Gobert from up top this quarter, including this one for the and-one slam pic.twitter.com/FlrlIKlMIM
— Aidan Berg (@AidanBerg_) April 26, 2023
Minnesota jumped out to a 27-12 lead ten minutes into the game only to have Denver come roaring back, cutting the deficit from 15 to nine by the end of the quarter and then making it a one-point game halfway through the second quarter.
We’ll have more to come as the Wolves enter the offseason with big questions.
