The Denver Nuggets took a commanding 3-0 lead in their first round best-of-seven series against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 120-111 win on Friday night. The two meet again on Sunday in Minneapolis, where Denver will look to close them out. Tipoff is at 9:30 p.m. EDT at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
The Denver Nuggets are the top seed in the Western Conference but no one really considers them a threat to make the finals. Well, maybe not no one, but most say the Suns, or the Lakers, or the Warriors, and then Denver is further down the list. But they have just completely dominated a pretty good Timberwolves team in this series en route to a 3-0 lead. They punctuated that by taking Minnesota apart on the road in Game 3 Friday, a 120-111 win.
Nikola Jokic running the entire play without the ball in hid hand and ends up with the assist is just insane basketball IQ. pic.twitter.com/f5dSpXOHDx
— Per Sources (@PerSources) April 20, 2023
“We didn’t want to give them life,” said the two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, reported ESPN. “We wanted to be the aggressor. We wanted to punch them first.” And punch they did, especially Jokic, not literally of course, but figuratively, as he dropped a triple double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists. Michael Porter had himself a game as well, scoring a team-high 25 points with 9 rebounds while Jamal Murray chipped in with 18 points and 9 assists. Denver is healthy with no key players on the injured list.