The Minnesota Timberwolves stayed alive in the 2024 NBA playoffs with a dominant 115-70 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night in Game 6 of their second-round series. The Wolves led by 17 at the end of the first quarter and never looked back as they forced Game 7 against the reigning champs in their first home win of the series. Their 45-point win was the second largest by any team facing elimination in NBA history.
Anthony Edwards had a game-high 27 points and was a plus-43 in 33 minutes -- tied for the fifth-best mark for any player in the playoffs in since the 1996-97 season. Jaden McDaniels was an efficient 8 for 10 from the floor for 21 points.
Nikola Jokic had 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting and just two assists. The NBA MVP missed all four of his 3-point attempts. Denver shot an abysmal 30.2% from the floor and became the first team to score 70 or fewer points in the playoffs since the Grizzlies in 2016.
Game 7 is set for Sunday in Denver.
Here are three takeaways from the Wolves' big win.
Minnesota meets the moment
After looking outmatched for the past three games, the Wolves started Thursday night with a 9-2 deficit thanks to a lack of energy and inability to keep the Nuggets out of transition. Head coach Chris Finch called a quick timeout, and the Wolves were a different team after that. They played the suffocating brand of defense that made them look virtually unbeatable in the first two games of the series, and the intensity translated to the offensive end, led by Anthony Edwards' tremendous individual performance.
Minnesota also moved the ball like crazy, with every rotation player recording at least one assist. The Nuggets consistently double-teamed Karl-Anthony Towns to force him to make decisions, and the big man answered by making the right pass nearly every time, dishing out a postseason-high five assists compared to just one turnover.
Had the Wolves lost four straight and been eliminated by the defending champs, the offseason would have taken on a much more somber tone despite their strong year. Now, even if they fall in Denver on Sunday, the energy and fight they showed on Thursday night will undoubtedly lead to more positive vibes.
Shutting down Jokic
After putting up one of the best offensive games in NBA playoff history on Tuesday, Nikola Jokic was held under wraps in Game 6 thanks to an altered strategy from the Wolves. Conventional thinking is that you need to decide whether to make Jokic a scorer or a passer when designing a defensive scheme, and after what they saw in Game 5 (along with the accompanying criticism of four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert), the Wolves clearly elected to choose the latter.
They sent double teams early and often, which can be poison against the Nuggets given Jokic's passing ability, but on Thursday it worked to perfection. With Murray having a rough game and the shots not falling for Denver, Jokic was held to just two assists in 35 minutes -- his lowest postseason total since 2021.
Jokic is never one to change his game based on the defense, so you can expect to see him take the same approach in Game 7 if the Wolves employ a similar approach. In a win-or-go-home situation, however, the Nuggets' supporting cast could be much more effective in Denver on Sunday when the passes come their way.
Murray misery
Jamal Murray is the owner of some of the best individual moments of the postseason so far, but Thursday night was certainly not one of them. The dynamic guard went 4-for-18 from the field, just never able to get anything going against Minnesota's host of long, strong, active defenders. Even when it looked like Murray was getting something going in the second half that he might be able to carry into Sunday, he followed it up with a couple of bad bricks.
Murray has been dealing with a calf injury for most of the postseason, and it's clearly affected him sporadically throughout this series. He settled for a lot of jumpers on Thursday, unable to find pathways to the rim.
Needless to say, the Nuggets need Murray to be elite if they're going to win this series (and possibly beyond). A big night from him on Sunday is essential, since you know the Wolves will play like they've got nothing to lose.
