The Timberwolves have been backed against a wall and there’s nowhere else to go after they lost at home 120-111 to the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of their best-of-seven playoff series. Denver leads the series 3-0 and can sweep Minnesota with a win in Game 4 Sunday night in Minneapolis.
Friday’s loss wasn’t a laugher like Game 1 or a tale of two halves like Game 2, but when Bruce Brown hit a jumper to give Denver a 22-21 lead with 2:56 left in the first quarter, the Nuggets never gave it back. Every time Minnesota cut Denver’s 10- or 11-point lead to single digits, they pushed it back and wound up pummeling the Wolves in the final minutes of the game.
The Wolves trailed 109-104 with 4:20 left in the game before Denver closed the game on an 11-7 run, which looked closer than it was thanks to an uncontested 3 by Nickeil Alexander-Walker in the waning seconds.
Nikola Jokic posted his ninth career triple-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. Michael Porter Jr. led Denver with 25 points as the Nuggets seemed to score at will, shooting 57.1% overall and 40.6% from 3.
The only reason Minnesota kept it close was a massive advantage at the free-throw line. While Denver was 11-of-13 on free throws, the Wolves were 29-of-35.
One of the key moments was when Jokic went to the bench with four fouls with 5:51 left in the third. Minnesota trailed 78-71 when Jokic took a seat and it was a prime opportunity to go on a run, but actually fell behind by 11 points just 90 seconds later and were still down 10 with under 30 seconds left in the quarter before a quick 4-0 run made it a six-point game entering the fourth.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 36 points in 44 minutes. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 27 points but was tied with Kyle Anderson for a net minus-10 rating when on the floor.
Game 4 is Sunday at 8:30 p.m. CT.
