Timberwolves top Nuggets
- The Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the Denver Nuggets in Monday’s Game 2, pushing their first‑round series farther into the playoffs. (usatoday.com) - The result was the freshest specific outcome in the supplied coverage, reported as Monday’s Game 2 win. (usatoday.com) - The playoff field is fully set and moving into Game 2s, shifting narrative focus to adjustments and matchup responses. (usatoday.com)
Minnesota beat Denver 119-114 on Monday, April 20, erasing a 19-point deficit in Game 2 to tie the first-round series 1-1. (nba.com) Anthony Edwards scored 30 points and Julius Randle added 24 as Minnesota recovered after trailing 44-25 early in the second quarter at Ball Arena. (espn.com) Denver won the opener 116-105 on April 18, so Game 2 kept the Nuggets from taking a 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Thursday, April 23, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. (nba.com) The comeback turned on the second quarter. Denver outscored Minnesota 39-25 in the first period, then Minnesota answered with its own 39-25 quarter to reach halftime tied 64-64 after Jamal Murray hit a 51-foot three at the buzzer. (espn.com) That reset the matchup from a series Denver controlled for six quarters into a best-of-five with home court still in the Nuggets’ hands. The National Basketball Association’s playoff format gives the higher seed Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 at home, and Denver entered this matchup as the West’s No. 3 seed while Minnesota was No. 6. (nba.com) Nikola Jokić finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, and Murray scored 30 for Denver, but the Nuggets were outscored 29-21 in the fourth quarter. (espn.com) The final minute swung on two late possessions. Edwards turned the ball over with 31 seconds left, Christian Braun split two free throws with 19 seconds remaining to leave Denver down 115-114, and Randle followed with two free throws before Donte DiVincenzo added a breakaway dunk. (espn.com) The result also interrupted Denver’s 13-game winning streak, which had stretched back to a March 18 loss before the playoffs opened on April 18. (nba.com) Minnesota has now turned a shaky Game 1 and a rough first quarter in Game 2 into a tied series heading home, with the next adjustment round starting Thursday night in Minneapolis. (nba.com)
