DENVER — The Wolves were lying flat on the mat early in the third quarter of Game 7 on Sunday.
A Jamal Murray corner triple put the Nuggets up 20.
If the script followed that of the first six games of the series, the Nuggets were on to the Western Conference finals. When someone landed a haymaker between these two teams, the opponent didn’t punch back.
But Minnesota decided not to throw in the towel. Instead, the Wolves got themselves off the mat and fought — and they won, rallying for a 98-90 Game 7 victory.
Minnesota closed the third quarter on a 28-9 run to trim the deficit to one heading to the fourth, and the Wolves imposed their will over the final frame to extend their season and advance to the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
Game 1 against Dallas is set for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CDT at Target Center.
To be the champs, you have to beat the champs — and the Wolves just did the latter in emphatic fashion.
It’s the first time Minnesota has reached this round since 2004, when the Wolves also survived a thrilling Game 7, bouncing the Sacramento Kings at Target Center. On that night, it was Kevin Garnett almost solely powering Minnesota to unchartered territory with perhaps the greatest individual performance in Timberwolves history.
Sunday was not that — Sunday was a story of the collective.
Anthony Edwards was far from elite on Sunday. The Nuggets paid him loads of defensive attention, and the 22-year-old rarely found the bottom of the net.
But Karl-Anthony Towns had an awesome game on both ends, making life difficult for Nikola Jokic while playing efficient, aggressive offense. He finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, including the game-sealing putback in the closing minute.
Jaden McDaniels put together his second straight strong offensive performance, tallying 23 points on the strength of three made triples.
Naz Reid carried Minnesota home in the fourth. With the Wolves leading by three, on back to back possessions Reid put back misses, including an emphatic slam off another Edwards miss. Then, in transition, Reid made the right play on the run, kicking to Edwards, who finally cashed an open triple to put Minnesota up 10 with three minutes to play.
Game, set, series.
“KAT got his fifth foul, Naz came in, he played great defense on (Nikola) Jokic, got a couple offensive rebounds, hit a big shot, made a big dunk, got a couple of steals,” Edwards said. “He played hard, man. So he’s super important to our team, and we tell him all the time, ‘Stay with it, just stay with it.’ And he stayed with it tonight and it showed, for sure.”
It took everyone for Minnesota to dig itself out of such a large hole Sunday evening. The Nuggets dominated play in all facets over the first 26 minutes. They were on point defensively, and they dominated the glass.
The Timberwolves had 18 rebounds at the half — Jokic had 15.
The entire script was flipped in the second half. Denver missed a few open shots, and many of its players suddenly were rattled. The champs were backed into a corner and flinched.
And Minnesota pounced. The Wolves dug in defensively, forcing turnovers that led to fastbreak runouts that led to dicing the deficit in a rapid manner.
Denver couldn’t survive the onslaught.
Even postgame, Edwards couldn’t believe it — “We was down 20 points,” he noted in a state of shock.
“That wasn’t Timberwolves basketball,” Towns said of the first 26 minutes. “That was park basketball.”
The last 22 minutes encapsulated what made this team so good all season.
“I really think guys just found whatever that little bit was for each individual to do a little bit better,” Mike Conley said. “Each guy did something.”
The three-time MVP was trying to fend off a pack of hungry Wolves on his own, as Murray — who scored 24 first-half points, only to then go cold when it mattered most — and Michael Porter Jr. failed to hit shots.
Down the stretch, Jokic would stand with the ball and no one would move, no one would cut, no one would come to the ball. They didn’t want to. Jokic finished with 34 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists. He finished with 14 points in the fourth quarter. No one else on his team tallied more than six.
Meanwhile, six separate Wolves players scored in the frame. And three players — McDaniels, Rudy Gobert and Reid, all had seven-plus points in the decisive frame.
“That’s the team we can be and the team we want to be. Obviously Ant and KAT bring so much attention when they make the right play,” Gobert said. “When they know everybody else is gonna be able to score and then it’s really tough on the defense and tonight, and the last game, he did an amazing job doing that. And I think our team is, we’re still getting better every single game, every single day. It’s fun to be a part of.”
Minnesota has caused many opponents all season to shrivel into the corner. That the Nuggets did so on their home floor after holding such a stunning advantage, though, is Minnesota’s grandest achievement to date.
“That was tops,” Wolves assistant coach Elston Turner said of the defensive performance in the second half. “We’ve had some good ones, but it was tops because it was against the defending champs — *that* team. They’re a good execution team, they play well together, they’ve got experience. Everything is in their favor. To stop them (means something).”
It was a snapshot of who the Wolves have been all season, and is why the Wolves are now eight wins away from an NBA title.
“I’m so proud with the way we kept our composure tonight,” Gobert said. “The way we kept trusting each other tonight. It’s a credit to every single guy in this locker room, every single guy on this coaching staff. We’re only halfway there.”
- The Wolves now advance to the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Game 1 is set for 7:30 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday at Target Center.
