DENVER (AP) – Michael Malone surveyed the scene yesterday and wondered where everyone was – not just Denver’s fans, but the Nuggets themselves.
“Our team was kind of like the crowd tonight – we were late arriving,” Malone said after Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray helped the top-seeded Nuggets overcame a slow start to eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-109 in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Anthony Edwards, who led Minnesota with 29 points, hit the back iron on a 27-foot three-point attempt at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.
The top-seeded Nuggets will face the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns, who eliminated in the Los Angeles Clippers in five games, in the second round, which begins on Sunday in Denver.
Despite Denver being the better seed, Jokic called the Suns “the favourite to win the championship. They have an amazing, amazing group of guys, well-coached”.
He went up and down their roster, saving special praise for Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton. “So, it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
Jokic also applauded the Wolves, who were without top perimeter defender Jaden McDaniels (broken hand) and center Naz Reid (broken wrist) for the series and lost Kyle Anderson to an eye injury in Game 4.
“And they still managed to be in every game except Game 1. That was the only game that was an easy win for us,” Jokic said. “They did a good job. We were just a little bit better this time.”
Jokic had a triple-double and scored 28 points despite missing 21 of 29 shots, and Murray scored 35 points to help the Nuggets overcome an early 13-point deficit.
