MINNESOTA Timberwolves clawed back from 20 points down to defeat Denver Nuggets, 98-90, in Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
Down by as much as 20 points early in the third period, the Timberwolves slowly clawed their way back behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards to cut the deficit to 66-67.
The Timberwolves continued its run in the fourth quarter with inside hits from Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid to take a 92-82 lead after a three-pointer from Edwards and never looked back.
Towns led the way for the Timberwolves with a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Jaden McDaniels stepped up with 23 markers as they won the semifinals series, 4-3.
Edwards struggled early before ending up with 16 markers, while Gobert, Reid, and Mike Conley contributed 13, 11, and 10, respectively, for Minnesota, which reached the West Finals for the first time since 2004.
Jamal Murray finished with 35 points, with 24 coming in the opening half, while Nikola Jokić added 34 points, 19 rebounds, and seven assists for the dethroned champions Nuggets.
Meanwhile, Indiana Pacers made its way to the Eastern Conference finals after a 130-109 victory over New York Knicks in the do-or-die Game 7 of the Conference semifinals.
The Pacers immediately took control of the game, leading 39-27 after the first 12 minutes before they widened the lead to 70-55 heading into the halftime break.
Indiana got a break further in the second half with New York star Jalen Brunson exiting with a fractured hand, while the former took advantage to pad the lead to as high as 21 points.
Tyrese Haliburton led the way with 26 points, Paskal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard added 20 points apiece, while Aaron Nesmith, Myles Turner, and TJ Connell contributed 19, 17, and 12, respectively.
NBA Playoffs action takes a break today before resuming on Wednesday (Philippine time) with the Game 1 of East Finals between the Pacers and top-seed Boston Celtics.
The Timberwolves, on the other hand, will open their Western Conference finals series against Dallas Mavericks on Thursday morning (Philippine time)./PN
BOX SCORE:
MINNESOTA 98 — Towns 23, McDaniels 23, Edwards 16, Gobert 13, Reid 11, Conley 10, Anderson 2, Alexander-Walker 0.
DENVER 90 — Murray 35, Jokić 34, Porter 7, Braun 5, Caldwell-Pope 5, Gordon 4, Holiday 0, Jackson 0.
Quarterscores: 19-24, 38-53, 66-67, 98-90.
