It’s over at Target Center, where Denver evened its best-of-seven series with the Timberwolves 115-107 now that both teams have won both their games on the other team’s court.
Timberwolves-Nuggets 10 clutch points: Jamal Murray strikes a pose. Where’s Karl-Anthony Towns?
It was another convincing win by the Nuggets over the Timberwolves at Target Center, including that devastating end to the first half for the Wolves.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
May 13, 2024 at 12:05PM
Jamal Murray was merely mortal except for his half-ending, three-point heave. MVP Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 35 points while the Wolves’ Anthony Edwards fulfilled his promise to carry his teammates forward. He scored 44 points, but it wasn’t enough.
The series now goes back to Denver for Tuesday’s Game 5 and the Nuggets having the chance to be only the sixth NBA team to lose its first two games at home and still win a best-of-seven series.
1. Jamal Murray’s heave ends first half ‘with no regards for human life!’
Turning point: Wolves had chopped a 16-point, first-half deficit to just seven in the final minute of the first half, but then they committed two late turnovers and then watched Murray’s dagger three-pointer from well beyond halfcourt swish at the buzzer.
Suddenly that seven-point deficit was 64-49 at halftime. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a three-pointer with 20.2 seconds left; Anthony Edwards then lost the ball with 4.7 seconds to go, leading to a Michael Porter Jr. dunk with 1.6 seconds to go; and then Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s inbounds pass went right to Jamal Murray, who avoided going out of bounds before heaving a shot from the left sideline that soared high and true.
Murray struck a pose right in front of Hall of Famer Reggie Miller and TNT play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan, who in turn attempted to stare down Murray himself. After his teammates crashed the court to mob him, Murray ran off the court and down the tunnel to the Nuggets locker room.
Until then, Murray was 2-for-4 for four points.
But he was just warming up. He started the second half by making his first four shots and quickly had 17 points midway through the third quarter.
He finished with a relatively quiet 19, except for that crucial halftime heave.
2. Honoring Kevin Harlan
Wolves CEO Ethan Casson presented TNT play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan with a framed throwback Wolves jersey during a first-quarter timeout.
Harlan was the original voice of the Wolves for almost a decade starting in 1989. The jersey was numbered 35 in honor of the team’s 35th season.
Harlan, Miller and former Wolves guard Jamal Crawford were back calling the series after calling the first two games in Denver; ESPN had Friday night’s game. They figure to have Tuesday’s game as well, as that’s also on TNT.
3. Edwards true to his word, but it’s not enough
Wolves star Anthony Edwards said he’d take all the blame for Friday’s 107-90 loss in Game 3, a stance Denver coach Michael Malone commended for a 22-year-old. Then he said Sunday night was time for him to bring the energy.
That he did.
By halftime, he had made nine of 12 shots from the field and he had scored 23 points while his teammates combined to score 26.
By third quarter’s end, he had 37 on 14-for-20 shooting, but the Wolves throughout it all were unable to chip a deficit down to a single digit.
Edwards finished with a career postseason high 44 points nonetheless on 16-for-25 shooting, already his fourth playoff game of at least 40 points.
He scored 43 in Game 1 of this series. He scored 40 in the Game 4 clincher of the first round at Phoenix and 41 in the second game of last year’s first-round series against the Nuggets — meaning his four 40 point games have come in a 12-game stretch.
Only Dallas’ Luka Doncic, with five, had more 40-point NBA playoff games before turning 23. Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Amar’e Stoudemire each had three.
4. Here kitty, kitty. Where’s KAT?
While Edwards carried his team as he had promised, Wolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns went 1-for-10 in the first half before he made three of his first four after halftime. It wasn’t nearly enough for a Wolves team that TNT analyst Charles Barkley says needs to play big and play his best for the Wolves to play their best.
Towns finished 5-for-18 for 13 points with 12 rebounds and three assists.
5. Aaron Gordon go, go, goes toward perfection
Sunday’s unsung hero is Nuggets power forward Aaron Gordon, who made his first 10 shots — and they weren’t all just from around the basket — before he finished 11-for-12 for 27 points.
He also was 3-for-3 from the foul line. And he added seven rebounds and six assists.
6. It’s a beautiful day, let’s play two (sort of)
The Twins wasted no time leaving Toronto’s Rogers Centre after Sunday afternoon’s 5-1 victory. The team was offered a Target Center suite for Sunday night’s game, so the Twins hustled home headed for the airport at game’s end.
7. Rudy Gobert gets his just award from a former Viking
Retired Vikings defensive lineman John Randle presented big Rudy Gobert his cut-glass Hakeem Olajuwon trophy that goes to the NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner.
Gobert has won a record-tying four of them now, equaling the number won by Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.
8. Minnesotans come home to Target Center
The Voice semifinalist Kat Perkins sang the national anthem. Halftime act and performance painter David Giribaldi create a portrait of Edwards with streaks and spots of brightly colored paint. Famous faces in the crowd included Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, St. Paul’s Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Suni Lee and former TV talk show host/comedian Craig Kilborn, a Minnesotan and longtime Wolves fan who has been courtside during these playoffs.
9. A day for remembering, no matter the score
Game 4 fell on Mother’s Day, which has special significance for Towns and Edwards.
Edwards mother Yvette and grandmother Shirley both died in 2015, Towns’ mother Jacqueline Cruz died from COVID-19 complications in 2020.
“It’s going to be a lot of emotions, especially for people like me and Ant,” Towns said before Sunday’s game. “Definitely a game that means a lot to us and we would love to give our mothers – who have the best seats in the house here at Target Center — some of our best performances.”
10. Whose bench is better than whose?
The pundits gave the Wolves the big edge in bench play for this series, but it certainly didn’t work out that way in Game 4. Veteran point guard Reggie Jackson has contributed despite a leg injury and on Sunday, veteran Justin Holiday had another productive night, as did second-year forward Christian Braun.
The three outscored the Wolves bench 27-13. Braun scored 11 points, Holiday 10 and Jackson six. As for the Wolves, Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid scored 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting, but Alexander-Walker — averaging 12.3 points per game in the playoffs — was 1-for-7 from the floor, including 0-for-3 on three-pointers, and was team-worst minus-20.
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