Source: C. Morgan Engel / Getty / Minnesota Timberwolves
The Denver Nuggets blew a golden opportunity and are now thinking about Cancun after the Minnesota Timberwolves ended their title defense run.
It took a historic 20-point comeback from the Minnesota Timberwolves over the Denver Nuggets to punch their ticket into the Western Conference Finals to play the Dallas Mavericks.
The Timberwolves’ Game 7 victory at Ball Arena in Denver was the punctuation mark on a story that began last year in a local bar that ESPN highlighted in a story.
Per ESPN:
The Timberwolves had just lost to the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs in April 2023, with Anthony Edwards’ potential game-tying 3 coming up empty as time expired in Game 5. Afterward, Edwards and a couple of teammates went to a cocktail lounge, Forget Me Not, in the Cherry Creek neighborhood, with their chartered flight back home not scheduled to leave until the next morning.
Of all of the gin joints in all of the towns in all of the world, Denver point guard Jamal Murray — fresh off a 35-point showing in the closeout game — just so happened to walk into the same bar as the Timberwolves.
And Edwards, a budding star yet to have the breakout postseason that has turned him into a bona fide superstar this spring, had a message to deliver to Murray.
“He was talking s—,” Edwards told ESPN as he walked down the ramp toward the team bus after his club’s 98-90 victory on Sunday. “He was telling Mike [Conley], ‘I’m sick of you, you can’t guard me,’ and all that.
“I told him, ‘We’ll be back. You’ll see us again when we’re fully loaded.'”
A Historic Night For The Timberwolves & Nuggets
Anthony Edwards’ words turned out to be prophetic.
He and his Timberwolves erased a 20-point third-quarter deficit, completing one of the largest comebacks in Game 7 history in the past 25 NBA postseasons.
The Nuggets also made history, becoming the first team in NBA history to lead by 15 points or more at halftime and lose a Game 7 playoff game. They also became the fifth consecutive defending NBA champions not even to sniff the conference finals.
Speaking on his squad’s herculean effort, Ant-Man told reporters, “It shows who we are. Once we really lock in on the defensive end, man, we’re a hell of a team to beat.”
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who is usually the butt of the jokes when they can’t clown Rudy Gobert, came up big for his team.
The team’s No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft kept his team in the game by scoring 23 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and a blocked shot.
Kat was also effective when defending three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic.
His head coach, Chris Finch, had glowing words about Towns. “I think you see how at peace and happy he is right now,” Finch said. “He had to trust that he was never going to be marginalized. All young players always think they can do it all by themselves, but in this league, nobody can.”
“I couldn’t be more happy and proud for him. Just because I think he’s faced a lot of unfair criticism when it comes to the postseason at times.”
Of course, the reactions to the Nuggets choking were on point. You can see those in the gallery below.
