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.
It was a defensive grind to start Monday’s game with Michael Porter Jr. blocking Rudy Gobert before the Minnesota big man returned the favour on the other end immediately after. A Jamal 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 Jaden McDaniels soared to block an Aaron 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 Nikola Jo.