The Minnesota Timberwolves will play in the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 20 years. To get there, the Wolves eliminated the defending NBA champions Denver Nuggets in the conference semifinals with a 98-90 Game 7 win that included a historic comeback.
The Wolves had a sluggish first-half performance and trailed by 15 points at the half. Up to that point, no team has ever managed to overcome such a deficit in Game 7 in NBA Playoffs. But, it seemed like a completely different Minnesota team came to play in the second half.
Using their trademark suffocating defense, the Wolves took control of the game. The shots started falling for them, and even center Rudy Gobert, not known for being the best of shooters, managed to hit a turnaround jumper.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the Wolves were on a 32-9 run and running away with the game. The Nuggets did all they could to change the momentum in their favor, but it became obvious that their hopes of repeating as NBA champions were squashed.
The Wolves saw a big game from Karl Anthony-Towns, who had 23 points, 12 rebounds, and two assists while playing a stellar defense on Denver’s superstar Nikola Jokic. Minnesota’s young star Anthony Edwards had 16 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, while Rudy Gobert added 13 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.
“It feels great,” Gobert said after the game. “Beating a team like they are, an incredible team, a championship team, with the best player in the world, it feels good.”
The Wolves will now play the Dallas Mavericks in the West Finals. They played on the same stage in 2003–04, when they lost to Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
The Nuggets, on the other hand, became the fifth consecutive NBA champions who failed to advance to conference finals in the following season.
