The Minnesota Timberwolves have completed the biggest Game 7 comeback in NBA history, overcoming a 20-point deficit to stun the Denver Nuggets 98-90 and sending the defending champions packing.
Minnesota trailed 58-38 early in the third quarter, with Denver seemingly on track to book its place in the Western Conference Finals as the Ball Arena crowd turned its attention to a match-up with Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
Instead, the Timberwolves flipped the script in stunning fashion, outscoring Denver 28-14 in the third and going on with the job in the fourth to seal the historic series victory.
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The victory was made even more impressive by the fact Anthony Edwards shot 6-for-24, having been blitzed by the Denver defence all night, with his teammates stepping up to make their shots as Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaden McDaniels both scored 23 points.
Naz Reid, meanwhile, was a menace off the bench with 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks.
As for Denver, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 69 points but Michael Porter Jr.’s struggles continued as he managed just seven points while Aaron Gordon wasn’t as effective as usual on the boards, finishing with four to go with four points, two assists and a block.
It was a defensive grind to start Monday’s game with Porter Jr. blocking Gobert before the Minnesota big man returned the favour on the other end immediately after.
A Murray 3-pointer opened the scoring for Denver and ended up being a sign of things to come as the Nuggets guard made a pair of deep shots to close out the quarter.
That gave the Nuggets a 24-19 lead after the first, having ended the period of a 7-0 run to put a rough shooting start behind them after opening the game shooting 2-for-13 from the field.
The Timberwolves weren’t much better early either, going 2-for-9 early, but set the tone on defence with their physicality as McDaniels soared to block an Gordon shot.
Minnesota needed to rediscover that same intensity fast though after falling behind 30-19 early in the second as Nuggets coach Michael Malone decided to leave Jokic in to start the quarter.
Jokic scored the first points of the quarter before Porter Jr., who had scored just 18 points in the last three games, started to heat up with back-to-back buckets to force Minnesota into a timeout.
As much as Denver was also making its shots, the defending champions were also dictating terms with their blitzing defence that was causing problems for Edwards, especially as his teammates failed to make shots.
A Gobert free throw eventually stopped a 16-0 Denver run before five quick points from McDaniels cut the Nuggets’ lead to 34-27, with the Minnesota defensive ace draining a 3-pointer and then making the most of a Mike Conley steal.
But when Murray is feeling it, like he was after hitting a fadeaway jumper over Kyle Anderson and letting out a roar to the Denver crowd, this Nuggets juggernaut has proven tough to stop.
Things threatened to get out of hand as Jokic put Denver ahead 48-33 late in the second but Towns responded with back-to-back buckets to reduce the deficit to 10 points.
The Timberwolves were seemingly gifted an opportunity to have the final say in the quarter when a poor Jokic pass was picked off by Edwards but second-year guard Christian Braun refused to give up on the play, tracking down Conley and blocking his shot.
That hustle play — one of many from Braun off the bench in the first half — then led to a Murray bucket on the other end that gave Denver a comfortable 53-38 halftime lead.
Murray picked up where he left off with the first five points of the third quarter before Minnesota upped the intensity on the defensive end, going on a 15-1 run as a result.
Unfortunately for Denver it was only the start of a dominant third quarter for the Timberwolves, who were trailing at one point 58-38 but went into the fourth only down 67-66.
“It’s got to start with our offence,” coach Malone told TNT Sports ahead of the final quarter.
“The offence is the beginning of the defence for us. In that quarter our offence didn’t execute, didn’t take care of the ball and they became very aggressive in the open court.”
The offence didn’t open the fourth quarter much better, with the Nuggets falling behind 77-72 and instead relying on shots like Jokic 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, if there was a play that summed up how the game was going it came with 7:44 on the clock as Gobert of all players hit a fadeaway at the buzzer.
Then, on the next possession, Gordon couldn’t finish at the rim in a frustrating reminder for the Nuggets of just how hard they were being made to work for points late in the game.
Minnesota though was still hustling for its buckets, as was the case when Reid fought for an offensive rebound and was fouled, making both free throws to put the Timberwolves ahead 87-82 entering the final four minutes.
Reid then came up big on the other end as he blocked Jokic, later crashing the glass for another offensive rebound that he turned into a dunk.
A Murray turnover then ended with Reid again making the right play, finding Edwards open in the corner for the 3-pointer that put the Nuggets away, even if there were three minutes left.
The Timberwolves led 92-82 at that point and had all the momentum, not relinquishing it to send the Nuggets packing and book a date in the Western Conference Finals.