NBA
The Minnesota Timberwolves Absolutely Hammered The Nuggets 106-80
Things got so bad for the Nuggets that “Wolves in 4” chants broke out in Denver in the game's waning seconds.
May 6, 2024
Can you say swarming defense? That is what the Minnesota Timberwolves did to the Denver Nuggets, holding the Nuggets to just 80 points in their impressive 106-80 win in Denver.
Considering the Timberwolves were down one Defensive Player of The Year finalist, Rudy Gobert, who did not play as his first child was born earlier in the day, tonight's defensive performance was even more impressive.
Things got so bad for the Nuggets that “Wolves in 4” chants broke out in Denver in the game's waning seconds.
Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony Towns both scored 27 points for the Timberwolves. Minnesota now leads the series 2-0 after securing two road wins against the reigning NBA champions.
The Timberwolves head coach Finch said, "The goal has always been to put out a team that people like to cheer for. That doesn’t happen unless you play hard and it usually doesn’t happen unless you play defense and you share the ball, and we’re going all those things right now."
Finch also said, "We've had some really, really good defensive efforts this year, but that has to be right up there with the best of them."
If the Nuggets are going to win this series, they will need to make significant adjustments in Games 3 and 4. If not, they may have just played their final home game of the season.
The Timberwolves have dominated the first two games and will return to Minnesota with an opportunity to close out the series on their home court.
The Nuggets, who never trailed in a series and lost only four playoff games en route to last season's NBA title, have had a shocking start to the conference semifinals. In Monday's game, they struggled against the NBA's best defense and failed to display the form of a title contender.
The series shifts to Minnesota on Friday Night.