Game Story
21-2.
Twenty-One to Two.
That is the run that was set to this entire game. Unfortunately for the Minnesota Timberwolves, it did not come in their favor. While so much can change after the first 12 minutes of game-time, there is no worse way to start a game off.
Worst of all, it came without MVP finalist Nikola Jokić dominating, instead coming largely at the hands of Tim Hardaway. Jokić took only two shots in that quarter, but the Denver Nuggets led it with 14 point advantage.
Still, that lead probably understates how truly porous the Wolves’ defense was in that first quarter. 39 points allowed in a quarter left their opposition on track for over 150 points is never a good sign. Worst of all, it looked just as bad.
Most devastating was the foul trouble, especially amongst the guards who should probably be safest from getting involved with the refs, immediately made the rotation weird. Within those first 12 minutes, Donte DiVincenzo had two fouls, Ayo Dosumnu had two of his own, and Bones Hyland led the pack with three, including a momentum defining charge against Hardaway. Denver enjoyed four four-point plays in the first half.
To that end, the Wolves committed 13 fouls within a quarter and a half. You will not win a game with that type of foul trouble.
There is no complaint that is hyperbole here. It was truly that bad. Many will be quick to blame the officials, and I won’t disagree with that. There were far too many light fouls that are atypical from playoff environments, most of which were going against Minnesota.
And yet, by the time Rudy Gobert got his third foul of the second quarter (Yes, it was that bad), the Wolves had pulled themselves back within 10. They had created an 11-0 run of their own, which became a 21-4 run of its own.
21-4.
Twenty-One to Four.
Everyone says that basketball is sport that is always on a pendulum swing, and that playoff basketball takes that concept to an extreme, but that does not put enough extreme to this. Within the first eight minutes, this game felt out of reach, only for a sudden momentum shift to see the Wolves completely take over, to leave us with a competitive battle filled with the rivalry between these two teams.
That’s what April is for.
It’s so weird to watch a team simultaneously find and lose their identity the way this Wolves team does. We saw hints of that in that first half. When Minnesota is attacking the rim, forcing Jokić to come out to the arc and then chase into the restricted area, they were scoring at will and opening up shots from distance off the drive and kick game.
When they were settling for shots, even when they were making them, the lack of rim pressure meant losing the pace game and fouling to catch up. It’s a pretty obvious difference.
That difference became even more obvious when a dominant second quarter ended with yet another run for Denver, capped off by a deep heave from Jamal Murray to tie the game at 64. Murray had 23 in the first half. Hardaway had 14. Edwards had 20 of his on to top the Wolves.
“It’s a game of runs,” said Hardaway, just before running into the locker room.
He was understating just how insane it had been.
If the first half was of opposite extremes, the third quarter was an even affair. The fourth quarter began with only three points separating the two teams. Clearly, this was a duel between Anthony Edwards and Jamal Murray, but in these moments, there is usually an unsuspected hero that rises to the occasion.
For the Nuggets, it seemed that it would be Bruce Brown, who hit two triples to start the fourth quarter. Maybe it was Cam Johnson, with his timely threes or rebounds. For the Wolves, well, that remained to be seen.
Naz Reid looked like the first to vie for that title. He had a few drives that resulted in short finishes or free throws. Instead, he seemed to fade until he was subbed out in favor of the Wolves go-to starting and closing lineup. Like so many iterations of Chris Finch’s Timberwolves era, this team would either win or go down by doing the same thing they had done all year.
Maybe it would be Jaden McDaniels. The crushing defense was complimented with a few dunks, some especially, notably more filled with hate. But, a bad foul call — blamed on marginal contact to the hip, and changed to “foot to knee contact” — left him at five, and that clearly affected the calculus of his play.
The Wolves were 0-8 all-time after going down in a series 0-2. The Nuggets were 8-0 all-time when up 2-0 in a series. This one felt like it would be an early decider of whether Minnesota had any chance in this series, or if they had simply made the playoffs to continue a streak that felt impossible only five years ago.
With just two minutes left, it was 112-111 Minnesota. That became 115-113 with 30.8 seconds left after an Anthony Edwards travel gave the Nuggets back the ball. When Christian Braun missed one of two free throws, it seems like the question was answered.
The Wolves hero tonight, at least for the fourth quarter, was not any of their own players. Instead, it was the mistakes of the Denver players that kept Minnesota ahead in a grimey cage fight of a game. Still, that does not matter much. What does matter is the Wolves have stolen home court advantage from the Nuggets.
The series sits at 1-1 going back to Denver. Who cares how it happened?
Sleep well, Wolves fans. What a fun game it was. What a confusing one as well.
Up Next
This playoff series has officially “begun” as the road team won. Minnesota heads back home and gets 48 hours of rest before playing host to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, April 23rd at 8:30pm CT on Prime Video. Get to Target Center if you can. It’s gonna be rockin’.
