Cold spell brings abrupt end to reign

DENVER — The Denver Nuggets couldn’t quiet an epic second-half comeback by Minnesota or the noise emanating from a boisterous Timberwolves locker room.

It was a thunderous and stinging reminder of the obvious — their reign as champions was over, and much sooner than expected.

The young and confident Timberwolves came into Denver’s house and spoiled the party by eliminating the Nuggets with a 98-90 win Sunday night in Game 7 of their secondround series. Minnesota overcame a 20-point deficit to make the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2004.

“No one ever said this was going to be easy trying to repeat,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

The Nuggets became the fifth straight reigning champion to fail to reach the conference finals in their quest to repeat. As Malone answered questions following the game, the vibrations from the Timberwolves’ rowdy locker room celebration echoed from down the hall.

Malone started off terse in talking about the emotions after losing a game in which they led by 20 points. It’s the biggest comeback in Game 7 history in the play-by-play era (1997-98), according to the NBA.

“The season’s over. That’s what’s hard,” Malone said.

Everything was going according to plan, too, with Jamal Murray hitting a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 58-38 early in the third quarter. The fans erupted, the building was loud and the celebration appeared to be beginning.

But it didn’t rattle the Timberwolves, who methodically climbed back into the game. They went on a 37-14 run to take a lead in the fourth quarter they wouldn’t relinquish. In that stretch, the Nuggets struggled from everywhere on the floor. Nothing was easy.

It was that sort of season-ending night. Murray, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. were a combined 7 of 28 from 3-point range.

Porter, in particular, struggled all series as he finished 26 of 70 from the floor in the seven games.

“We just did not make enough shots in this series, Michael included, but he wasn’t the only one,” Malone said.

Jokic had a simplistic explanation.

“They played good defense,” he said.

Malone echoed that thought, then threw in another.

“This feeling sucks,” he said. “That’s what I told our players — we go from training camp all the way through, and then it comes to an abrupt halt. That hurts.”