DENVER — Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota to a 106-80 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, giving the Timberwolves two points against the reigning but flailing NBA champions in the Western Conference semifinals. They led 0-0.
Towns and Edwards both scored 27 points and the Timberwolves improved to 6-0 in the playoffs with wins in Minneapolis on Friday night and Sunday with a chance to shut out the furious Nuggets.
The Wolves were so dominant that the Nuggets threw both fits (Michael Malone) and objects (Jamal Murray) onto the court.
Aaron Gordon led Denver with 20 points, Nikola Jokic had 16 points and 16 rebounds, but the third-highest scorer was sub Justin Holiday with 13 points. Murray scored eight points on 3-of-18 shooting.
The Wolves staggered the Nuggets with body blow after body blow, even though starting center Rudy Gobert returned to his home in Minneapolis on Sunday to give birth to his son. But the Timberwolves didn't need Gobert's shot-blocking prowess or rim protection to continue dominating the Nuggets at Ball Arena on this night. Denver won 36-8 before losing back-to-back games to Minnesota.
Kyle Anderson started in Gobert's place, and the Timberwolves similarly hounded Jokic to disrupt Denver's offense.
Edwards was on the bench for most of the game while Minnesota was up 43-18 in the first half, but the Nuggets were getting more frustrated when Malone ran onto the court and hit official Mark Davis in the face. Ta. He extended his outburst during a timeout and managed to avoid a technical foul.
As Towns was about to score on a layup in the second quarter, Murray, Denver's struggling point guard, got frustrated and threw a heat pack onto the court. It's unclear whether officials realized it was Murray, not a fan, who threw the object onto the court. However, he will likely face punishment from the league.
The Nuggets have trailed by double digits in six of their seven playoff games and by nine games in the remaining nine, but Malone, who had been reeling from a slow start, has given his team one strong start. I asked him to cut it.
“What are we delaying?” he complained after Sunday's practice.
Gordon alone heeded his coach's call, scoring 13 points quickly, including a 3-pointer that brought the Nuggets to within one point, 18-17, late in the first quarter.
Things took a turn for the worse for Denver after that, and by the second quarter, Jokic was the only Nuggets starter to score. Jokic had only eight points by halftime and Murray, still dealing with a strained left calf, scored just two points in the first half, the duo's worst offensive performance in the first half of the season.
The Nuggets' 26-point halftime lead, which led 61-35 at halftime, was Denver's largest home playoff game in franchise history.
The Wolves led 82-60 after three quarters and cruised the rest of the way.
