The Minnesota Timberwolves made a splendid comeback in the second half to beat the Denver Nuggets 98-90, eliminating the reigning champions from the NBA playoffs.
It marked the sixth consecutive season in which the defending champions failed to get past the second round.
“Teams are hungrier, better, [more] talented compared to last year,” Denver star Nikola Jokic said of the difficulty of repeating, even in a season in which he won his third Most Valuable Player award.
“Everyone gets better. Everyone wants to beat us, probably.”
The Timberwolves followed up a 45-point win in Game 6 with an epic comeback from 20 points down in the third quarter, winning their best-of-seven series 4-3 and booking a Western Conference final showdown against Dallas Mavericks.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Jaden McDaniels added 23 points and Anthony Edwards hit his stride late as the Timberwolves became the first team to rally from a deficit of more than 11 points at halftime to win a match 7. .
The Nuggets cooled off as Edwards and the Timberwolves built a rhythm and cut the deficit to one point in the fourth quarter, only to concede a layup from Rudy Gobert early in the fourth.
“They were scoring,” said Jokic, who scored 14 of his 34 points in the quarter. “They had a lot of offensive rebounds. We can’t make shots.
“I think we had a lot of open looks, very open looks, but that’s what happens. Sometimes you make shots, sometimes you miss, and today I think we missed a lot of good ones.
“But it doesn’t just depend on us. They played good defense.”
But Jokic said he wouldn’t accept the idea that the loss was worse because the Nuggets should have won.
“I don’t believe it,” said the Serbian. “I think the team that wins is the better team.”
Karl-Anthony Towns guida la @Timberwolves‘ collective effort coming back from down 20 to win Game 7 and advance to their first Western Conference Finals since 2004!
Jaden McDaniels: 23 points, 6 rebounds
Anthony Edwards: 16 PTS, 8 REB, 7 ASTGame 1 of the WCF predictions on Wednesday at… pic.twitter.com/3k7z9vLGen
—NBA (@NBA) 20 maggio 2024
The Pacers crush the Knicks 130-109 and reach the Eastern Conference final
Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points as the Indiana Pacers had one of the most sensational first halves in Game 7 history in a 130-109 win over the New York Knicks, advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 10 years.
The Pacers set an NBA playoff record by shooting 67.1 percent from the field and advanced to face top-seeded Boston in a series that begins Tuesday. Indiana last reached the conference final in 2014, losing to Miami.
The Pacers made 29 of 38 shots in the first half, a shooting percentage of 76.3% that was the highest in the postseason since 1997, when the NBA began keeping detailed play-by-play for all four the quarters. At that point they led 70-55 and pulled away every time the Knicks tried to make a run in the second half.
“I just told our team that when you win Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, you’ve made history,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
2024-05-24 22:31:45
#Minnesota #Timberwolves #eliminano #Denver #Nuggets #Gara
