NBA playoffs: Timberwolves climb out of 19-point hole to knock off Nuggets, even series

Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves are still standing.

The Timberwolves, despite falling into a 19-point hole early at Ball Arena on Monday night, rallied back to knock off the Denver Nuggets 119-114. That evened up their opening-round playoff series, which has easily been the most competitive across the league so far this postseason, as it heads to Minneapolis for the first time later this week.

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It also ensured that the Timberwolves had a legitimate shot to advance into the next round. The franchise, which has been to the Western Conference finals in back-to-back seasons now, has never successfully climbed out of an 0-2 series hole.

TWolves rally after rough start

The Nuggets almost ended things in the first quarter.

Denver opened the night on a 44-25 tear and simply overpowered Minnesota on both sides of the ball. The Timberwolves just looked out of it.

But, of course, that didn’t hold. The Timberwolves started clawing back and should have held the lead at halftime if Murray didn’t somehow sink an absolutely wild shot from the far side of the logo to close out the second period.

Nikola Jokic, who was slow offensively in the first 24 minutes, took off in the third quarter and kept the Nuggets in it as the battle ensued. He dropped 14 points in that period alone, yet the Timberwolves just never went away.

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They eventually took the lead back late in the fourth quarter, thanks to a dunk from Jaden McDaniels and a fastbreak layup from Donte DiVincenzo — both of which came after missed buckets from Jokic in the paint.

That was a brutal trend for the Nuggets, who managed just one made field goal over a nearly five-minute span before Aaron Gordon drilled a 3-pointer with 78 seconds on the clock. That brought Denver back within one. Jokic threw down a dunk over Rudy Gobert to keep them in it later, too.

While Murray had a look at a bucket to send the game into overtime, he was off the mark and allowed DiVincenzo one last easy dunk for good measure to seal the five-point win.

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This post will be updated with more information shortly.

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/breaking-news/article/nba-playoffs-timberwolves-climb-out-of-19-point-hole-to-knock-off-nuggets-even-series-052659610.html

Author : Ryan Young

Publish date : 2026-04-21 05:26:00

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