The defending champions Denver Nuggets were knocked out as they lost the seventh game of the Western Conference semifinals against Minnesota Timberwolves by 98-90 on Sunday. The Nuggets were in a shoo-in position while leading by 20 points (58-38) but the Timberwolves bounced back in the third quarter.
It was the largest blown lead in a Game 7 in the past 25 years. The team’s head coach Michael Malone was visibly upset in the press conference as it was a difficult pill to swallow.
“The season’s over,” a frustrated Michael Malone said in his news conference. “That’s what’s hard,” Malone said when asked about what went wrong. “F— being up 20. The season’s over. It’s hard.”
Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic finished with 34 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 assists but missed 8 of 10 from behind the arc. Furthermore, Murray scored 24 of his 35 points in the first half but shot just 4-for-12 from 3-point range.
Jokic had a hard time against the trio of Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid whereas Anthony Edwards scored 16 points. Towns and Jaden McDaniels top-scored for the Wolves with 23 points each.
“I mean, I think they’re built to beat us,” Jokic said. “Just look at their roster. They have basically two All-Stars, two probably first-team defensive players. Mike Conley is the most underrated player in the NBA, probably.
“From the bench, they have a Sixth Man of the Year. … [They are] one team that they can do literally everything. They can be big, small.”
Murray admitted they should have won as they were leading by a comprehensive margin but they didn’t grab their chances and it led to their downfall.
“Just mentally and physically, conjuring up the energy to fight like you’re being hunted,” Murray said. “I think that’s the emotion. When you’re the hunter, you have so much more motivation and you grasp on to anything to prove everybody wrong and you have a constant chip on your shoulder.
“I don’t know. … I feel like we should have won tonight. That’s the tough part. They beat us, but we had so many great opportunities, including myself, so it’s just tough, man.”
Minnesota Timberwolves will take on Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.
