MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The injury-ravaged Minnesota Timberwolves lost two more key players for Game 6 of their first-round NBA playoff series on Friday against the Denver Nuggets, scratching guard Ayo Dosunmu with a sore right calf and forward Kyle Anderson with an illness.
After sparkplug Donte DiVincenzo went down with a ruptured right Achilles tendon in the first minute of Game 4 and All-Star Anthony Edwards was sidelined with a bone bruise in his left
knee in the second quarter, the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets 112-96 on Saturday behind a career-high 43 points from Dosunmu.
The injuries caught up to Minnesota in Denver for Game 5 during a 125-113 defeat on Monday that pulled the Nuggets within 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. With the backcourt thinned significantly, coach Chris Finch put 19th-year veteran Mike Conley and 2024 first-round draft pick Terrence Shannon in the starting lineup.
Backup guard Bones Hyland was listed on the injury report with a sore left knee, but he was available off the bench. Jaylen Clark, who played sparingly during the regular season, was also in line to join the backcourt rotation. Anderson has been a deeper reserve since rejoining the Timberwolves last month, but he would've given Finch another experienced and trustworthy option to help fill the injury voids.
DiVincenzo visited the team's morning shootaround on a scooter, after having surgery Sunday. Timberwolves players wore his jersey to the arena in tribute.
For the Nuggets, forwards Aaron Gordon (left calf tightness) and Peyton Watson (strained right hamstring) were held out again. Gordon has missed three of the six games. Watson has yet to play.
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