One of the most surprising results in the postseason of the NBA has been repeated for the second consecutive day, since the The Minnesota Timberwolves They have had no respect for the Denver Nuggetswhom they beat 106-80 in game 2 of the semifinal round in the Western Conference.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 points and grabbed 12 reboundsAnthony Edwards He also scored 27 points and the visitors managed to emerge victorious despite not having Rudy Gobert, who was away from the team due to the birth of his first child. With this big lead, the Timberwolves return to Minneapolis for game three of the best-of-seven series.
Even without Gobert, a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Minnesota held Denver to its lowest point of the season in points. Jamal Murray He scored eight points on 3-of-18 shooting, but had a career-high 13 rebounds; Nikola Jokic finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 20 points and Justin Holiday scored 13 off the bench.
Minnesota without fear against the best
Naz Reid y Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 14 points each for the Timberwolves, who They began the playoffs with six consecutive victories with great fluidity on offenseled by Towns scoring 20 points in the first half and the team shooting 54.5 percent before halftime.
The Timberwolves used a dominant run that spanned the first and second quarters to take control. Leading 18-17, the pupils of Chris Finch They outscored Denver 24-5 to take a 20-point lead after Reid’s 3-pointer with 8:05 left in the half. The Nuggets got within 43-28, but Minnesota had a strong finish in the second quarter to lead 61-35 at halftime.
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Close to the coup de grace
Denver continued to fight in the third quarter and The Timberwolves took the lead, leading by as many as 32 on a three-pointer by Alexander-Walker with 7:20 left in the period.. The Nuggets found some offensive rhythm late in the third to cut the score to 82-60 heading into the fourth.
Jackson opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 19, but Denver then missed a couple from deep. Towns made a pair of free throws and Alexander-Walker soon hit his fourth 3-pointer to make the score 87-65 with 9:18 left. Another explosion pushed the gap to 97-72 as Minnesota closed the scoring.