DENVER — — A big early deficit in Denver didn’t bother the Minnesota Timberwolves, who two years ago staged the biggest Game 7 comeback in NBA history, clawing out of a 20-point hole to beat the Nuggets and advance to the Western Conference finals.
This time, they overcame a 19-point deficit, rallying past the Nuggets 119-114 on Monday night behind 30 points from Anthony Edwards and 24 from Julius Randle to tie their first-round playoff series at one game each.
An epic comeback from the Minnesota Timberwolves and an epic choke job by the Nuggets!
In a high-stakes game with playoff-level intensity, the Denver Nuggets edged the San Antonio Spurs 136–134 in an overtime thriller on Saturday night. The game served as a masterclass from the NBA’s top two MVP candidates, Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama, who traded blows in OT.
Jokić was nearly flawless, exploding for 40 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds. Most impressively, he became the first center in NBA history to record a 40-point, 10-assist game without committing a single turnover. His late-game brilliance fueled a Nuggets comeback from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit (107 – 96) with 9-mins remaining in regulation.
Wembanyama, returning from a one-game absence, was equally transcendent. The young star put up 34 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 blocks, anchoring a Spurs defense that held the lead for most of the regulation. Despite his dominant interior presence, Wembanyama’s potential game-winner at the buzzer clanged off the rim, leading to a Denver-controlled overtime. The victory snapped the Spurs’ 11-game winning streak and kept Denver within half a game of the Western Conference’s third seed.
Just barely a month after firing their head coach, Mike Malone and “essentially” letting go of their GM, Calvin Booth, the Denver Nuggets are advancing to the semis of the 2025 NBA Playoffs (120 – 101) and will face the OKC Thunders, who swept their series against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Nuggets defeated a healthy Clippers that includes a resurging Kawhi Leonard, a conditioned James Harden and improved Ivica Zubac. In their last outing, Leonard scored a team high 22 points and 5 rebounds, Harden only scored 7 points with 5 rebounds and 13 assists, but both player did not impact the game as people are expecting from the two superstars.
It was a close game until the last 3 minutes, where the Nuggets was able to build an 11-point lead to end the first half (47 – 58). In the 3rd, the Nuggets went on a 17 to nothing run, to create a 25 point lead with 7:30 still remaining in the quarter and basically ran away with the game.
Aaron Gordon lead Denver with 22 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, followed by Christian Braun, who added 22 points with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Aside from his production, Braun also provided the much needed defence against Harden. Denver’s best player Nikola Jokic was flirting with a triple-double game with his scored 16 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, and basically sat-put the whole 4th quarter.
Aaron Gordon's 22-point performance leads the @nuggets to a Game 7 win at home!
In the post game interview, “In playoffs we know that everybody needs to step up, offensively, defensively, whatever, energy-wise. And everybody who plays needs to contribute something,” Jokic giving Braun his flowers, “It was special today the guys did that.”
Denver will be facing a well rested OKC Thunder, this Tuesday, May 6th at the Paycom Center, OKC.
