Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ Game 4 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in the Western Conference playoffs.
1. Ant-nother strong performance: There’s been one constant for the Timberwolves throughout this series. Anthony Edwards shows up. Every time. Ant-Man set the tone from the start, attacking the rim, pulling up in transition and doing just about whatever he wanted in the opening minutes. By the time the first half came to a close, he had 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting with two assists and a steal. The problem for the T-Wolves? Only Naz Reid (4 for 4, nine points) came along for the ride. Karl-Anthony Towns? He left his heart in Denver (and maybe his head, too). Rudy Gobert? Nikola Jokic gave him the business again and again, while the Stifle Tower attempted one shot in the opening 24 minutes. Total. By the end of the night, Edwards had 44 points … and a second straight L.
2. Closing kick: The other problem for the Wolves? That 8-0 Nuggets run in the final 20 seconds of the second quarter. Yup, that happened. So how do you score eight points in 20 seconds? A combination of bad decisions by the opponent (we counted two) and one of the most bonkers shots you’ll ever see — the rarely-seen inbound-steal-near-half-court/half-court-heave that hits nothing but net from Jamal Murray. Before that, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope broke out of a mini-slump with a 3-pointer that grew a seven-point to 10, and Nikola Jokic turned an Anthony Edwards turnover into a Michael Porter Jr. run-out dunk. That’s twenty seconds that just might’ve altered the course of a series.
3. AG got game: Put this one in the Aaron Gordon Time Capsule. The driver of the Nuggets’ big run to take control of the game in the first half? That would be AG. He got his footing early on with a corner 3-pointer early in the first quarter, continuing a trend of hot outside shooting that started in Game 2. Then he locked in on Karl-Anthony Towns on the defensive end. Twice, KAT tried to bully AG in the post. Twice he came up empty. The pinpoint passes followed — first to Nikola Jokic for a pair of free throws, then to Justin Holiday for a pair of 3s. Throw in a couple of bulldog drives to the basket, and Gordon’s line when he finally took a seat in the second quarter was a tidy 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and one block on 4-for-4 shooting. He only missed one shot the rest of the night. Yup, one.
And one
Even Steven: The contributions came from all over. AG couldn’t miss — literally. Justin Holiday, Reggie Jackson and Christian Braun combined for six 3s off the bench. Jamal Murray shot laser beams out of his eyes with Nikola Jokic in foul trouble in the third quarter. As for the Joker? He was just his regular MVP self, putting up a casual 35 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals on 15-of-26 shooting. The Nuggets came to Minneapolis needing to win one to keep their season alive. They leave having won two with their repeat championship hopes completely resurrected. The series is now 2-2. And no matter what happens from here, the Nuggets have proven themselves worthy champions.
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