The Denver Nuggets, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, showed why they earned the top seed after a convincing 109-80 victory over the No. 8 seed Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their first-round matchup in the NBA playoffs on Sunday. evening.
It was an all-around team effort for the Nuggets, as they had six different players with double-digit points on the night, including all five starters.
But none was better than Jamal Murray, who led the way with 24 points on 9-of-22 shooting, including 4-of-10 3-pointers, with eight rebounds and eight assists.
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Nikola Jokic also had a double-double in the first half after adding 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds. He would finish the game with 14 rebounds and six assists.
Aaron Gordon (13 points, five rebounds), Michael Porter Jr. (18 points, 11 rebounds, two assists), Kentavius Caldwell-Pope (15 points, four rebounds) and Bruce Brown (14 points, three rebounds) finished the game. in double digits to help the Nuggets to victory.
THE DENVER NUGGETS ENTER THE PLAYOFFS HEALTHY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE APPEARING IN THE WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
A 13-0 run in the third quarter put the Nuggets up 81-56 thanks in part to a 3-pointer by Caldwell-Pope before the Wolves called a timeout. But after Denver’s 32-14 third quarter, they increased their lead to 29 points and didn’t look back.
The Nuggets would get to 30 with 2:04 left in the fourth quarter, and everyone at Ball Arena in Denver knew Game 1 was in the home team’s pocket.
The frustration even boiled over for the Wolves when Kyle Anderson wanted to shoot after the whistle in the third quarter, but Nuggets guard Christian Braun didn’t want him to. He kept putting his hand in front of the ball as Anderson went to shoot, and the latter finally had enough.
Anderson threw an elbow that sparked a scuffle between the two teams, eventually receiving a flagrant foul that allowed Braun to hit two free throws and give the ball to Denver.
For the Timberwolves, stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards did not have a good night. Starting with Towns, he finished the game with just 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting, though it was a double-double with 10 rebounds and two assists.
Edwards also struggled to shoot 6-for-15 from the field for 189 points. He also had two rebounds and five assists.
As a team, the Wolves shot just 37% from the field, including 30.6% from the ground from three-pointers. That compared to the Nuggets’ 45.6% shooting from the field.
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Game 2 will take place at Ball Arena once again on Wednesday with a 10:00 p.m. ET kickoff.