Timberwolves up 3-1 on Nuggets
- The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 112-96 on Saturday, April 25, behind 43 bench points from Ayo Dosunmu, taking a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference first-round series. - Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo both left with injuries, but Minnesota still won by 16, outrebounded Denver 50-38, and held the Nuggets to 38% shooting and 21% from three. - Game 5 is Monday, April 27, in Denver, with the No. 6 seed Timberwolves one win from eliminating the No. 3 seed Nuggets. (nba.com)
Minnesota moved within one win of the second round Saturday night, beating Denver 112-96 in Minneapolis for a 3-1 series lead. (espn.com) Ayo Dosunmu scored 43 points off the bench for Minnesota, the game-high in a matchup the Timberwolves won despite losing Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo to injuries. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) Jamal Murray scored 30 for Denver, but the Nuggets shot 33-for-87 overall and 6-for-28 from three-point range. Minnesota finished with a 50-38 rebounding edge and a 54-42 advantage in points in the paint. (espn.com) The series turned after Denver’s Game 1 win on April 18. Minnesota answered with a 119-114 comeback in Game 2, then held Denver to 96 points in both Game 3 and Game 4. (basketball-reference.com) (espn.com) Game 3 showed the same formula Minnesota used again Saturday: pressure Denver early, crowd Nikola Jokić, and win the interior. In that 113-96 victory, the Timberwolves built a 27-point lead and opened by holding Denver to 11 first-quarter points. (espn.com) Jokić entered Game 4 averaging 25.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists in the series through three games, but Denver’s supporting cast has not matched Minnesota’s depth. Aaron Gordon also missed Game 3 with a calf injury. (basketball-reference.com) (espn.com) Minnesota is the No. 6 seed and Denver is the No. 3 seed, so the Timberwolves have flipped home-court pressure back onto the Nuggets. Game 5 is set for Monday, April 27, at Ball Arena in Denver. (nba.com) Denver now needs three straight wins to survive. Minnesota needs one more night like Saturday, when its bench scorer erupted and its defense dragged the series to the brink. (espn.com)
