Minnesota wins 115-70 over Denver 45-point margin, second-largest margin in NBA playoff history
Anthony Edwards of Minnesota
In the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets were defeated by 45 points, pushing the Western Conference semifinal playoffs (PO) to a close game in Game 7.
Minnesota defeated Denver 115-70 in Game 6 of the second round (4 wins out of 7) of the 2023-2024 NBA Playoffs (PO) Western Conference held at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA on the 17th (Korean time).
The 45-point gap is the second-largest score gap in NBA PO history.
Minnesota, which was on the verge of an upset defeat by losing Games 3 to 5 to Denver after winning Games 1 and 2, won Game 6 and balanced the series record at 3-3.
Minnesota, which ranked 3rd in the West with 56 wins and 26 losses in the regular season and defeated the Phoenix Suns (6th place, 49 wins, 33 losses) with 4 consecutive wins in the first round of PO, bounced back from the brink.
Denver, the ‘defending champion’ ranked 2nd in the West (57-25), beat the Los Angeles Lakers (7th, 47-35) with 4-1 in the first round of the PO, and then tried to win 4 games in a row against Minnesota, but failed.
Game 7, where the fate of the two teams depends, will be held at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on the 19th.
Minnesota widened the lead by scoring 20 consecutive points in the first quarter and completely took the lead with 31-14.
Minnesota, which maintained the gap in the second quarter, finished the first half with a 19-point lead, and entered the fourth quarter with an 86-61 lead thanks to the performance of Jayden McDaniels, who hit two 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Home fans filled the stadium with cheers as Minnesota scored 26 points instead of giving up 2 points to Denver in about 7 minutes from the start of the quarter.
Minnesota held Denver to just 9 points in the fourth quarter and sealed the game with a 45-point victory, the second largest in NBA playoff history.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards scored 27 points and McDaniels scored 21 points.
‘Twin Towers’ Karl-Anthony Towns (10 points, 13 rebounds) and Rudy Gobert (8 points, 14 rebounds) also kept under goal.
In Denver, Nikola Jokic, who won his third NBA regular league Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy, did his best with 22 points and 9 rebounds.
Denver’s field goal success rate was only 30.2% and 3-point shot percentage was only 19.4%, and they also lost significantly to Minnesota in rebounds, 43-62. 섯다