Timberwolves On Their Way to Sweep the Nuggets?
Minnesota Currently Leads Their Series vs the Nuggets 2-0
Denver’s Not Looking Like NBA Champs…
Karl-Anthony Towns had a monster game with 27 points and 12 rebounds to help the visiting Minnesota Timberwolvesbeat the Denver Nuggets, 106-80 on Monday. Anthony Edwards’ stats were also impressive, as he added 27 points of his own. The Timberwolves have a 2-0 lead in this Western Conference Second Round series!
Minnesota won despite being without starting center Rudy Gobert, who was away from the team to attend the birth of his first child. The series now heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday at 9:30 PM ET at Target Center.
The league’s top-ranked defense just put on an absolute CLINIC in Denver.
🔒 11 STL
🔒 12 BLK
🔒 34.9 OPP FG%@Timberwolves go up 2-0! pic.twitter.com/8ijLOs8yyX— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2024
The Nuggets Have No Answers
The Timberwolves hold a decisive edge over the reigning NBA champions. As mentioned before, Gobert, a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year didn’t play in Game 2. The Timberwolves still held the Nuggets to a season-low in points and an ugly 29-of-83 shooting night.
Aaron Gordon led Denver with 20 points, Nikola Jokic had 16 points and 16 rebounds, and Justin Holiday added 13 points in 22 minutes off the bench. Jamal Murray had a rough night for the Nuggets, scoring just eight points on 3-of-18 shooting. Murray also finished with a career-high 13 rebounds.
“When you don’t have the Defensive Player of the Year, you have to step your game up,” Towns said after the game. “We all understood the challenge coming in against the defending champions, a really, really good team with some of the best players we’ve ever seen. So we understood the challenge. We just wanted to come here and find a way to win the game.”
.@stephenasmith says the Timberwolves are the new championship favorites 👀 pic.twitter.com/umtHDwqFMu
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 7, 2024
Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 14 points off the bench apiece. After sweeping the Suns in the first round, the Timberwolves now have six straight wins to start the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Charles Barkley Predicts a Sweep
After Monday’s game, NBA legend Charles Barkley called this series a wrap.
“This series is a wrap. Minnesota is better than the Nuggets. They don’t have an advantage anywhere. … They’re gonna sweep the Denver Nuggets. Period,” Barkley said on TNT’s Inside the NBA.
Chuck: “This series is a wrap. Minnesota is better than the Nuggets. They don’t have an advantage anywhere. … They’re gonna sweep the Denver Nuggets. Period.” 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Wt4aqexO1n
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 7, 2024
This Timberwolves roster is deep, and game after game they continue to prove that what they did in the regular season wasn’t a coincidence. This team is a force, not just in the Western Conference. It’s also time to give credit to head coach Chris Finch, as he has everyone on the team playing for each other.
“We’ve had some really good defensive efforts this year,” Finch said after the game. “That has to be right up there with the best of them.”
“Rudy’s driven the defensive culture here. I think it’s a testament to his impact, his presence and what he’s infused into the team of how important defense is and how great it can be when we play it,” Finch added. “That aside, we expect to win no matter who’s with us and who’s not.”
Now, after having the Nuggets on the ropes after two road games, the Timberwolves can avoid coming back to Denver for another game. As long as they win their two home games and sweep this series.
