The Minnesota Timberwolves have knocked out the Denver Nuggets with a 110-98 Game 6 win to seal their series and move into the Western Conference semi-finals against the San Antonio Spurs, while over in the East, Aussie star Dyson Daniels and the Atlanta Hawks suffered a heavy 140–89 defeat to the New York Knicks after a record-breaking first-half collapse ended their season, with Daniels ejected early into the game.
Read on for a full NBA playoffs wrap!
Watch NBA with ESPN on Kayo Sports | Stream the best of the NBA Playoffs. | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
NUGGETS CRASH OUT IN DISASTER AS T’WOLVES STAR HAS LAST LAUGH
The third-seeded Denver Nuggets have been eliminated from the NBA playoffs after falling 4-2 to the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, who sealed a 110-98 Game 6 win at Target Center despite being without Anthony Edwards, booking a Western Conference semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs.
It was far from comfortable. No side built a double-digit lead until the final minute, with Minnesota leaning heavily on its depth and home crowd to grind out the result.
Jaden McDaniels delivered the defining performance of the night, finishing with 32 points and 10 rebounds while playing a key two-way role as the Timberwolves stepped up in the absence of their usual backcourt firepower.
Minnesota were already without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, while Ayo Dosunmu was ruled out late with injury and Kyle Anderson sat due to illness. It forced a complete reshuffle, with Terrance Shannon Jr. making his first career playoff start and logging 34 minutes in a breakout role, while Mike Conley Jr. played his heaviest minutes since March.
Denver were also undermanned, missing Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson, but still pushed Minnesota deep into the fourth quarter before the game finally slipped away.
Tempers briefly flared late when Nikola Jokić was involved in a fourth-quarter exchange after a screen with Jaylen Clark led to a brief scuffle, with Naz Reid also getting involved as officials stepped in to separate players.
Jokic ended up on 28 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, shooting 11-19 from the field in what will be an early off-season for the three-time MVP.
In the end, Minnesota’s composure and depth told when it mattered most, edging out a tense series-clinching win on their home floor.
Jaden McDaniels addressed his earlier comments a week after saying, “Go after Jokić, Jamal, all the bad defenders.”
For the Nuggets, this marks their second first-round exit in the past eight seasons, highlighting a sharp fall from their championship-winning 2022-23 campaign.
Speaking after the game, Jokic said it was not his place to speculate on changes but added if they were in Serbia “we would all get fired”.
HAWKS ELMINATED AFTER AUSSIE STARS EJECTION
“To lose the way we did, given the enthusiasm and support that we had from the people in this building… disappointed on a lot of levels.”
Quin Snyder didn’t hold back after the Atlanta Hawks’ season came to a crashing end, suffering a 140–89 defeat to the New York Knicks that sealed a 4–2 series loss and a brutally early exit.
The game was effectively over before half-time. New York piled on a record-breaking 83–36 lead at the break, the widest half-time margin in NBA playoff history, before stretching it even further on the way to a dominant win. The Hawks briefly led early, but things quickly fell apart as the Knicks took full control.
The margin ballooned to as much as 61 points before New York emptied its bench in the final quarter. It was the Knicks’ biggest playoff win on record, and their highest scoring output in a post-season game.
OG Anunoby led the way with 29 points, 26 of them coming in a blistering first half before he was rested. None of New York’s starters played more than 29 minutes in a one-sided finish.
“We can’t just meet the moment, we’ve got to exceed it, and I thought we did a great job of doing that tonight,” said Karl-Anthony Towns, who posted a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
After finishing third in the East and entering the series as favourites, the Knicks recovered from an early 2–1 deficit to storm into the semi-finals for a fourth straight season. They now await the winner of the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers series.
For Atlanta, frustration took over as the game slipped away. With 4:39 left in the second quarter, tensions boiled over during a free-throw sequence when Dyson Daniels and Mitchell Robinson became entangled, sparking a scuffle involving multiple players before both were ejected.
Calling the moment live, Mike Breen described the chaos as it unfolded.
“Oh, and Robinson and Dyson just being held up… Brett Barneke gets knocked down! Robinson wants to go after somebody,” he said.
“They’re trying to separate the two. Robinson really upset. The frustrations coming through for the Hawks right now.”
After review, both players were handed offsetting technical fouls and ejected from the game.
“Their physicality… they made it hard for us… we didn’t get the results we wanted and even as the series progressed you could see what a really good team they are… why they are contender,” he said.