DENVER Nuggets thwarted Minnesota Timberwolves’ endgame run to score a 115-107 victory in Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Leading by as much as 18 points at 76-58, the Timberwolves made a run to cut the deficit to 97-105, but the Nuggets got back-to-back hits from Nikola Jokić and Christian Braun to increase the lead to 109-97.
Minnesota made its last push to threaten to within 104-111, but two inside conversions from Jokić increased Denver’s advantage to 115-107 with under a minute left.
Jokić led the way for the Nuggets with 35 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals while Aaron Gordon added 27 points on a near-perfect 11-of-12 field goal shooting.
Jamal Murray tallied 19 points, eight assists, and five rebounds, and Braun and Justin Holiday came off-the-bench to tally 11 and 10 points, respectively, as Denver tied the series at 2-2.
Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 44 points, Mike Conley added 15 points and nine assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns contributed a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Indiana Pacers relied on a frenetic start to score a 121-89 Game 4 victory over New York Knicks, tying the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series at 2-2.
The Pacers set the tone in the opening quarter to lead by as much as 23 points before they blew the game wide open in the second period for a 69-41 halftime lead.
Indiana continued its rampage in the second half as the lead grew to as high as 43 points before the Knicks managed to cut the final losing margin to 32 points.
Tyrese Haliburton led the way for the Pacers with 20 points, T.J. McConnell had a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists, Paskal Siakam and Obi Toppin had 14 each, and Myles Turner and Isaiah Jackson ended with 13 and 10, respectively./PN
BOX SCORE:
DENVER 115 — Jokić 35, Gordon 27, Murray 19, Braun 11, Holiday 10, Jackson 6, Porter 4, Caldwell-Pope 3.
MINNESOTA 107 — Edwards 44, Conley 15, Towns 13, Reid 11, Gobert 11, McDaniels 11, Alexander-Walker 2, Anderson 0.
Quarterscores: 29-24, 64-49, 90-79, 115-107.
