The NBA Playoffs continued with a single game Thursday night. The defending champion Denver Nuggets had an opportunity to close out their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves in six.
That opportunity apparently did not light a fire under the Nuggets in Minneapolis. Instead, Nikola Jokic and Co. put up an historically bad outing. Minnesota won by the score of 115-70. You read that right. The Timberwolves won by 45 points in an elimination game.
Everything went wrong for Denver. The Timberwolves took advantage of it all with Anthony Edwards and Co. forcing Game 7 on Sunday. Here are 10 winners and losers from Thursday’s eye-opening Timberwolves win.
Winner: Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves
Gobert was on the receiving end of a ton of criticism after Nikola Jokic’s dominant Game 5 performance in Denver. Whether that was justified or not remains to be seen. It appears that the four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year took it personal on Thursday. Gobert played a major role in holding Jokic to 22 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Jokic also turned it over three times. Those two assists are a major barometer of just how effective Gobert was defensively against Jokic. He’s a major winner here.
Loser: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
One game after dropping 40 points and 13 assists, Jokic put up one of the worst performances of his career in the NBA Playoffs. He didn’t necessarily look too engaged in this one. The numbers speak for themselves. In addition to dishing out only two assists, the Nuggets were an eye-opening minus-25 in the 36 minutes Jokic played. His regular-season low in that regard was back in January against the New York Knicks (minus-23). Just gross.
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Winner: Mike Conley, Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota obviously missed Conley in Game 5. It’s not about his stats. Rather, it’s how he controls the game as a quarterback on offense and his defensive capabilities out on the perimeter. That all came out in droves as Minnesota put up an historic win over Denver Thursday evening. He played a central role in Jamal Murray shooting 4-of-18 from the field. Minnesota was also plus-26 in Conley’s 31 minutes of action. This was aided by the fact that he did not turn the ball over a single time. Just sensational stuff from the vet in Game 6.
Loser: Denver Nuggets bench
How bad was Denver’s bench in Game 6? Before the starters were pretty much pulled with the Nuggets down 99-63 at the 8:33 mark, their second unit had scored two points on 1-of-14 shooting. An argument can be made that any one of us could’ve gone out there and performed at that level. Chiefly, Reggie Jackson missed on all six of his shots with Denver finishing minus-20 in his 12 minutes. That’s laughable. That’s pathetic.
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Winner: Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota Timberwolves
We saw it at times during the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. Jaden McDaniels dropped 25 in Game 2 of that series. He also scored 18 in the close out Game 4. McDaniels had not been as good in this series heading into Thursday night’s must-win game. That changed big time. The veteran forward scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shotting. He was drilling shots from all over the court while finishing second behind Anthony Edwards in scoring for Minnesota.
Loser: Dallas Mavericks
Assuming that it is Dallas headed to the Western Conference Finals (3-2 lead against Oklahoma City), Minnesota’s win doesn’t necessarily bode well. It keeps alive a potential matchup against the Timberwolves. Dallas was 1-3 during the regular season when taking on Anthony Edwards and Co. Its only win came by seven points back in January. It also took Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic to combine for 69 points in order to pull off the victory. We still have no idea what the matchup will be out west. But the Timberwolves simply are not a great matchup against Dallas.
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Winner: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Typically, Edwards backs up his trash talk when on the court. Thursday’s great all-around performance was no different. One game after shooting just 5-of-15 from the field, he was dynamic from that perspective. One of the game’s most-talented players shot 8-of-17, including connecting on 4-of-9 from distance. He scored 27 points with three steals. Minnesota finished an unbelievable plus-43 in his 34 minutes of action. That’s just insane stuff.
Loser: Michael Porter Jr., Denver Nuggets
Michael Porter Jr. just continues to come up small. He scored a combined 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting in the previous two games leading up to Thursday’s matchup. We warned that his lack of effectiveness could end up impacting Denver. That was certainly the case in Game 6. Porter Jr. scored all of eight points in 31 minutes of action. He missed on 5-of-6 from distance. A repeat performance Sunday could send Denver packing for the spring.
Winner: NBA fans
Game 7’s in the sports world. There really aren’t many things better than that. Game 7 overtime hockey in the playoffs might beat what the NBA has to offer. But this is when legends are born. Stars are made. Names are etched in the record books. We’ll all be witness to this possibility when the Denver Nuggets host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Get your popcorn ready.
Loser: Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Murray opened Game 6 Thursday night having connected on 1-of-11 shots for two points as Minnesota took a 24-point lead early in the third quarter. This came after shooting struggles (42%) to open the Western Conference Semifinals. The Nuggets need Murray to play at a high level if they want to repeat as champions. Did that not happen on Thursday as this series was sent to seven. All said, he shot 4-of-18 from the field. Just ugly stuff.