The champions are back. So is the MVP.
Led by hot shots and an impressive surge to conclude the second quarter, the Denver Nuggets cruised to a 115-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. After losing the first two games at home, Denver tied the series 2-2 and regained the home-field advantage it gave up in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Nuggets took control Sunday with a 12-0 run late in the first quarter that ended with Denver leading, 29-24. A 12-2 run early in the second extended the lead to 41-26 before Anthony Edwards clawed the Timberwolves to within 56-49.
Then the Nuggets surprised Target Center.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope matched a 3-pointer by Anthony Edwards with one of his own with 20 seconds left in the half. Aaron Gordon then stripped Edwards to set up a Michael Porter Jr. fastbreak dunk with 1.6 seconds left in the half, seemingly capping a 5-0 run by the Nuggets to conclude the quarter. But Denver wasn’t done.
Jamal Murray stole an errant Nickeil Alexander-Walker inbounds pass on the right wing and launched the ball from 55 feet as the clock ticked down. He dunked through the net at the buzzer to cap an 8-0 run in the final 20 seconds of the half to extend Denver’s lead to 64-49.
A 16-point Denver lead was cut to seven and then widened again to 15 in the blink of an eye. Edwards continued to lead the Timberwolves’ fight after halftime. But Minnesota never recovered.
Minnesota cut its deficit to 113-107 in the final minute. But the Nuggets held a double-digit lead for most of the second half to send the series back to Denver for a crucial Game 5 at home. They’ve regained their swagger after being outplayed and outplayed by the upstart Timberwolves in the first two games of the series.
Much like their Game 3 win on Friday, the Nuggets won the game with good shooting from the field and from beyond the 3-point arc. Murray, Nikola Jokić and Aaron Gordon took turns in starring roles to counter a 44-point effort from Anthony Edwards.
The Nuggets shot 57% from the field and 13 of 29 (44.8%) from 3-point range on a strong shooting night from virtually their entire eight-man rotation. Four days after winning his third MVP with his Nuggets trailing in the series, 2-0, Jokić led the Nuggets’ effort with 35 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and one block. He shot 15 of 26 from the field.
Gordon was in a hurry the entire game. He made his first 10 shots en route to an 11-of-12 effort from the floor that produced 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal. Murray finished with 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds while shooting 8 of 17 from the field and 3 of 7 from beyond the arc. He appears to have overcome the calf injury that limited him in the first two games of the series and the frustrations that earned him a $100,000 fine after he threw several objects onto the court during a Game 2 loss at home.
The Denver bank also came out on top. Justin Holiday, Christian Braun and Reggie Jackson combined for 27 points and collectively shot 8 of 14 from the field and 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Braun and Holiday fueled Denver’s drive early in the second quarter, extending their lead to 42-28.
This story will be updated.