Nuggets win Game 3 and are focused on completing the sweep of the Wolves
After the Denver Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of their first-round series on Friday night, they turned their attention to completing a playoff sweep, which has never been done in the franchise’s history.
With a 3-0 lead, Nuggets coach Michael Malone stated, “We don’t want to go back to Denver at this point. No disrespect to the T-Wolves, but this is about us.”
Denver didn’t want to let off after winning the first two games of the series at home, according to Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic, who ended with 20 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds for his sixth career postseason triple-double. The idea that the Nuggets didn’t need to win Game 3 was mocked by him, claiming it didn’t make logic.
We didn’t want to give them life, according to Jokic. “We aimed to make the first move. We were tempted to strike them first. We need them to respond to us. That was our strategy. I believe we performed well.
If Denver wins Game 4, it will be the first sweep in a playoff series of any duration for the team. Going back to the 2009 conference semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks, this is just the second occasion the Nuggets have led 3-0 in a series. They lost Game 4 in Dallas before regaining momentum and winning Game 5 to seal the victory.
Along with the LA Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, and the Timberwolves, who are attempting to avoid being swept for the first time in a seven-game series, the Nuggets are one of four franchises without a series sweep in their franchise history.
The final game of a series is frequently the most difficult one, as we are aware, Malone remarked. “I’m hoping we can find a solution. You shouldn’t think, “Hey, we can just go back and close it in Denver.” We should approach Game 4 with the goal of winning it.
As the game got underway, Minnesota was the aggressor and benefited from the fervour of the full Target Centre crowd to take the lead quickly. Denver, however, had tied the score by the end of the quarter and had the game under control the rest of the way.
Guard for the Nuggets Jamal Murray remarked, “We knew what we had to accomplish. They began acting violently. They turn out the way they were intended to. We handled the pressure well, in my opinion, and were able to calm down.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points to lead the Nuggets and added nine rebounds. Two Nuggets, Christian Braun (9 points) and Jeff Green (8 points), failed to reach the double-digit scoring mark.
Porter lauded the team’s depth for maintaining a high level of play even with Jokic out.
Porter said, “I think Aaron [Gordon] and Jeff out there give us a very versatile lineup that we didn’t see a lot during the regular season, but it’s working great for us because we can just switch one through five, and then we just try to get stops and run.” Porter added, “We didn’t see a lot of this lineup during the regular season.” When Jok isn’t on the pitch, the offence has a slightly different appearance, but we have been able to make it work. We only have a large number of men capable of several tasks.
The Timberwolves gave a far stronger overall performance than they did in Games 1 or 2, but it was insufficient.
Anthony Edwards scored 36 points in total and attempted 15 more free throws than the Nuggets did as a team (13). Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 points while shooting 10-of-17.
Along with LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, and Kobe Bryant, Edwards is now just the fourth player in NBA history under the age of 21 to score 30 points in back-to-back playoff games. Only James (83 and 79) and Michael Jordan (79) have scored more points in two consecutive postseason games than Edwards, who has 77 total points.
Mike Conley, a seasoned guard, described Friday’s defeat as discouraging. Early in the fourth quarter, Minnesota made it a one-possession game. In the following six minutes, Minnesota had three opportunities to trim the deficit to five points, but they were unable to do so.
Guys played hard, said Conley. “I occasionally had breakdowns. They definitely gave them room to move down there along the stretch. We rely on a variety of players to enter the game and provide us with minutes overall, and we would dearly love to get this one back.
