Timberwolves Stun Nuggets in Historic NBA Playoff Comeback
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00:03 Live right here on this Monday on the early line on Sports Grid looking back
00:07 on a doubleheader of game sevens yesterday in the NBA playoffs where both
00:12 teams had to go away from home in win on the road.
00:16 Timberwolves complete a historic comeback in the second half.
00:20 The T-Wolves down by as many as 20 against the Denver Nuggets at certain points
00:24 in the opening half down by 15 at the break.
00:27 Come all the way back to win 98-90 over the reigning champs
00:32 ending the title defense for Denver.
00:35 Entering yesterday, DRS, in game sevens in the history of the NBA postseason,
00:40 the largest halftime deficit overcome was 11 points.
00:44 Minnesota now etches its name in the history books down by 15 at the break,
00:49 53-38 to storm all the way back on the road in the Mile High City
00:54 at the home of the reigning champs to send the Denver Nuggets packing in advance
00:59 to the Western Conference Finals.
01:01 98-90 again, the T-Wolves winning outright as a four and a half point underdog.
01:06 A total that closed at an even 200 stays under the number.
01:11 They were doing whatever they wanted.
01:12 We're talking about the Denver Nuggets in the first half.
01:14 You talk about bully ball, Jokic just absolutely playing bowling pins down on the low block,
01:18 easily banging through Rudy Gobert.
01:21 But you also take a look at the final numbers here, 34-19-7.
01:24 That's the number that Nikola Jokic had to end this game, and they lost that game.
01:27 And you also look at Jamal Murray's 35 points.
01:30 It's incredible because it looked like, in watching the first half,
01:33 it's like, this is what's supposed to happen here.
01:35 This is a championship team on their home court for game number seven,
01:38 just playing good basketball at 15.
01:40 Then you take a look at that third quarter, 28-14.
01:42 You saw that lead start to go away, but you're still like, you know what?
01:45 Championship pedigree is going to be okay here.
01:47 We're going to follow through.
01:48 They scored 14 points in the third quarter, 23 in the third quarter,
01:51 ended up losing by eight points here.
01:53 And the incredible part about this is when you have home court advantage.
01:56 We've talked about this.
01:57 Look, it's tough to play in Boston. Why? Because Boston's a good basketball team.
02:00 It might be tough to play Madison Square Garden because of the electric environment.
02:03 But you also have an electric environment, a ball arena in Denver,
02:06 but also you play at elevation.
02:08 It's the one true home court advantage that really nobody has in the NBA,
02:12 outside of Utah and also Denver, because you're supposed to be ready for that.
02:15 You're supposed to get winded as the road team.
02:17 You're not supposed to beat the reigning champions in their own building
02:20 in a game number seven, particularly when you're down 15.
02:23 I could have seen it here if you said, wow, what a first half by the Timberwolves, Ben.
02:26 They're up 15 points at the break.
02:27 They got a shot at this, but they were down 15 at the break.
02:30 It's like, this is a wrap. Denver's moving on.
02:32 Let's see if they can handle the Dallas Mavericks at this point.
02:34 I loved what I saw of the Timberwolves, and I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I am.
02:38 Why? Take a look at the box score here.
02:40 Anthony Edwards, 6 of 24 from the floor, and they won this basketball game.
02:45 You don't understand how important that is,
02:47 where you don't need your all-time superstar to provide a 40-point effort
02:51 and still get a victory in a game number seven in Denver.
02:54 Minnesota, my goodness, what's next for them?
02:57 We know it's the Mavericks, but so, so impressive, Ben.
03:00 And ever the character after the game, looking at his own box score,
03:04 when he arrived at the postgame presser and said, man, I'm trash.
03:08 6 of 24, 2 of 10 from deep, but did hit a huge corner three late in the fourth quarter
03:15 and let the Denver crowd know all about it.
03:18 Carl Anthony Towns, 23 points, 12 boards.
03:21 And DRS, Anthony Edwards was made fun of for a statement that he said
03:25 during the all-star break in Indianapolis when asked to compare to the Phoenix Suns,
03:29 who at the time were the favorites to win the Western Conference.
03:32 And he said, sure, they got KD, but we got Jaden McDaniels.
03:36 And maybe he wasn't joking, because Jaden McDaniels ties Carl Anthony Towns
03:41 for a team-high 23 points.
03:44 The story of this series, Donnie, pretty easy to follow
03:47 for one of the best defensive teams in the NBA all year long.
03:50 All four wins for Minnesota, total stays under.
03:54 All three wins for Denver, total went over.
03:58 The Nuggets did not reach 100 in this game against the T-Wolves.
04:02 In any of the four losses, Denver did not get to the century mark
04:06 against the Timberwolves.
04:08 And whatever the second-half adjustments on the defensive side of the floor
04:11 were made by Chris Finch, they paid off.
04:14 Denver was getting everything they wanted in the opening half,
04:17 and then it became very stagnant and stale, resulting in a lot of heaves from deep
04:21 from Nikola Jokic.
04:23 And, Donnie, we love to look at the box score and look back and say blanket statements.
04:26 If you said this, X then resulted.
04:29 If you were to tell me that Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic combined for 69 points,
04:34 where Jamal scored 35 and Jokic had 34 and 19,
04:38 I would ask how many points did Denver win by,
04:41 how easily did they cover as a 4.5-point favorite at altitude?
04:45 It's just that nobody else on Denver scored more than 7,
04:48 and Minnesota prevails.
04:50 That's incredible.
04:51 And also Aaron Gordon, four straight games of doing absolutely nothing.
04:55 We've talked about this, and usually it's the road teams that struggle with this.
04:59 We know what we're going to get, Ben, out of our superstar players.
05:01 We have an expectation for that.
05:03 Now Jokic's expectations are ridiculous, and he did prove 34, 19, and 17.
05:07 Jamal Murray, 35 points.
05:10 That's what you're supposed to get.
05:11 But also, when both of your big guns are having great games,
05:14 you should be wide open all over the court.
05:16 You see Aaron Gordon, 2 of 5 from the floor, only shot 5 times.
05:19 Michael Porter, Jr., 3 of 12 from the field, which included 1 of 6 from 3-point range.
05:23 Take a look at KCP, only chipping in with 5 points.
05:26 You can't have that.
05:27 There's a reason why you lose basketball games,
05:29 because your secondary players do have to step up.
05:31 And we didn't need 15, 20, or 25 out of Michael Porter, Jr.
05:35 How about 10 points?
05:36 How about 10 points out of Aaron Gordon?
05:37 That's not hard to ask when they weren't able to do it,
05:39 and only 5 points scored off of the bench.
05:42 It's incredible, because this game should have played out with those box scores,
05:45 where Minnesota was leading the entire way.
05:47 But the fact that they're down 20 points in the second half on the road
05:50 and rose up to victory without their best player in a dominating performance,
05:54 that really bodes well, because the one thing we don't talk about enough in the NBA
05:58 is when you play great defense, you always have a chance.
06:00 In Minnesota, last night, great defense.
06:03 Listen, we will talk about what is next, what the offseason holds for the Nuggets.
06:08 The reigning champs have their ton of defense come to a close in the second round.
06:12 The only defending champ to reach the conference finals the following year,
06:16 the 2019 Golden State Warriors.
06:19 But we focus now on Minnesota, a team that Donnie has loved,
06:23 and frankly, the Timberwolves have backed it up with belief in themselves.
06:28 We'll look at the odds outlook, what Minnesota has had to overcome
06:31 from the perspective of the oddsmakers,
06:33 but they will enter the Western Conference Finals
06:36 booked as a -180 outright favorite to win that conference crown.
06:41 And DRS on the road, Minnesota has been unreal this postseason.
06:45 5-1, both straight up and against the spread,
06:49 booked as an underdog in all six road games,
06:52 they have won outright in their five victories.
06:55 The Timberwolves are not scared of this moment.
06:58 In fact, it seems Minnesota is eager to seize this time at the top.
07:02 Absolutely, and I'm here for it.
07:04 And you got a good matchup coming up next round,
07:06 and they can get to the NBA Finals, how incredible would that be?
07:09 They have the team, they have the defense, the superstar talent,
07:12 and now the coaching to get it done.
07:13 Wonderful performance, they're moving on,
07:15 can't wait to see the Western Conference Finals.
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