Nuggets extend series with Game 5 win

Denver kept its season alive Monday night, beating Minnesota 125-113 in Game 5 to push the Western Conference first-round series to a sixth game. (nba.com) Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 27 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds, his 23rd playoff triple-double. Jamal Murray added 24 points, and Spencer Jones scored 20 as Denver ended a three-game skid. (nba.com) (espn.com) Minnesota entered the night with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to close out the matchup, but the Timberwolves opened with nine first-quarter turnovers and 14 by halftime. Denver led by 27 before Minnesota cut the margin to 10 in the fourth quarter. (espn.com) (nba.com) The game turned on Denver’s offense looking like itself again after back-to-back sub-100-point losses in Minneapolis. The Nuggets, the league’s highest-scoring team in the regular season, got back to their Jokic-Murray creation game and finally pulled Rudy Gobert out of the center of the story. (espn.com) Minnesota was short-handed. Anthony Edwards missed the game with a hyperextended left knee, Donte DiVincenzo was out after rupturing his right Achilles in Game 4, and Naz Reid rolled his right ankle late in the third quarter before returning. (nba.com) (espn.com) Julius Randle scored 27 points for the Timberwolves, and Ayo Dosunmu followed his 43-point Game 4 with 18 in Game 5. But Rudy Gobert, whose defense had defined much of the series through four games, scored his only basket with 20 seconds left in the third quarter. (espn.com) (nba.com) The result sends the series back to Minneapolis for Game 6 on Thursday, April 30. Minnesota still leads 3-2, and Denver needs one more road win to force a Game 7 at Ball Arena on Saturday, May 2. (nba.com)