The Minnesota Timberwolves, led by Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, dominated the Denver Nuggets on Monday night with a remarkable 106-80 victory over the reigning NBA champions.
“We’ve had some really good defensive efforts this year,” said Wolves coach Chris Finch, reflecting on his team’s unexpected 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. “That has to be right up there with the best of them.”
Despite missing their top defender, Rudy Gobert, who was attending the birth of his son in Minneapolis, the Wolves managed to limit Denver to a poor shooting performance of 29-of-83.
According to Finch, Gobert’s influence on the team’s defensive mindset was evident in their stellar performance. “Rudy’s driven the defensive culture here.
I think it’s a testament to his impact, his presence, and what he’s infused into the team of how important defense is and how great it can be when we play it,” Finch explained. “That aside, we expect to win no matter who’s with us and who’s not.”
Both Towns and Edwards contributed 27 points each, propelling the Wolves to a flawless 6-0 record in the playoffs and positioning them to potentially close out the series against the Nuggets with victories on Friday and Sunday in Minneapolis.
The Nuggets were so frustrated by the second quarter that coach Michael Malone got upset at an official, and point guard Jamal Murray threw a heat pack onto the court in frustration as Towns was about to score on a layup.
Malone said he didn’t know it was Murray who threw the heat pack, saying, “I knew a heating pack was on the floor, but it was not in my field of vision.”
The officials also didn’t see him throw it, according to crew chief Marc Davis. “We weren’t aware it had come from the bench. If we would have been aware it came from the bench, we could have reviewed it under the hostile act trigger. The penalty would have been a technical foul,” Davis told a pool reporter.
Coach Finch said he only knew that the heat pack had come from the Nuggets’ bench. “We tried to impress upon (the officials) that there’s probably not many fans in the building that have a heat pack. So, it probably had to come from the bench, which they found logical,” Finch said. “But yeah, it’s inexcusable and dangerous.”
Murray, who has shot 9 for 32 in this series, left Ball Arena without comment for the second straight game. He is likely to be fined by the NBA for his actions.
Aaron Gordon led Denver with 20 points, Nikola Jokic had 16 points and 16 rebounds but their third-leading scorer was sub Justin Holliday with 13 points. Murray scored eight points on 3-of-18 shooting.
