Timberwolves drop Nuggets in 2-0 hole
Anthony Edwards and Karl-anthony Towns powered Minnesota’s 106-80 blitz of host Denver on Monday that gave the Timberwolves a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals over the reigning but reeling NBA champions.
Towns and Edwards each scored 27 points as third-seeded Minnesota improved to 6-0 in these playoffs and gave itself a chance to close out the fuming Nuggets with wins Friday and Sunday in Minneapolis.
So dominant were the Timberwolves that they had second-seeded Denver throwing fits (coach Michael Malone) and objects onto the court (guard Jamal Murray).
Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 20 points, and Nikola Jokic added 16 points and 16 rebounds. Their third-leading scorer was substitute Justin Holliday with 13 points. Murray scored eight on 3-for-18 shooting.
The Wolves staggered Denver with body blow after body blow even though starting center Rudy Gobert was back in Minneapolis attending the birth of his son Sunday. They didn’t need Gobert’s shot-blocking prowess and rim protection on this night to continue their domination of the Nuggets at Ball Arena, where Denver was 36-8 before its back-toback losses to Minnesota.
Kyle Anderson replaced Gobert in the starting lineup, and the Timberwolves hounded Jokic and disrupted Denver’s offense just the same.
During a 43-18 first-half flourish by the Timberwolves — Edwards was on the bench for much of it, no less — the Nuggets grew so frustrated that Malone ran way out onto the court and got in official Marc Davis’ face for an extended blowup during a timeout and somehow avoided a technical.
So did Murray after Denver’s ailing point guard threw a heat pack onto the court in frustration as Towns was about to score on a layup in the second quarter.
It wasn’t clear if the officials realized it was Murray who threw the object onto the court and not a fan. He likely will face punishment from the league.
Trailing 61-35 at the break, the Nuggets’ 26-point halftime deficit was their largest in a home playoff game. The Wolves led 82-60 after three quarters.
■ Knicks 121, Pacers 117: At New York, Jalen Brunson scored 21 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter to rally second-seeded New York, which trailed by nine early in the period in an Eastern Conference semifinal opener.
Brunson became the fourth NBA player with four straight 40-point games in a postseason, joining Hall of Famers Jerry West (who had six) and Michael Jordan and former Knicks forward Bernard King.
Donte Divincenzo hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 39 seconds left and totaled 25 points for New York, which shot 53.7 percent and had a 40-32 edge in rebounds. Josh Hart added a playoff career-high 24 points with 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Miles Turner scored 23 points and Pascal Siakam 19 for sixth-seeded Indiana, which shot 52.3 percent.