Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ 122-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series:
1. Jamal Murray stays hot: After a strong performance in Game 1, Murray continued to show he isn’t fazed by his 900-plus days hiatus from postseason basketball. In the first quarter on Wednesday, Murray looked more like the player we saw in the Bubble. He was pulling up from the 3-point line while aggressively attacking the basket, scoring 14 or his 40 points in the first. When the Timberwolves made a comeback, Murray’s shot-making kept the Nuggets afloat. Trailing by three points, he buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 85. Seconds later, Murray’s turnaround jumper evened the score once again. In the fourth, the Nuggets turned to Murray to secure the victory — and just like his days in Orlando, he delivered with five straight points to give Denver 10-point cushion with 3:14 to go.
2. The Nuggets have given KAT all sorts of trouble: One of the biggest takeaways of the first round has been the Nuggets’ defensive game plan against Karl-Anthony Towns. The Timberwolves’ star big man has combined to score 21 points on 8-for-26 shooting through two games. In Game 1, the Nuggets had the luxury of watching Towns miss 3-pointer after 3-pointer. In Game 2, Denver picked up its defensive intensity against Towns, greeting him with multiple defenders when he was in the paint. He was a non-factor in the first half, scoring two points on 0-for-4 shooting from the floor and four turnovers. Although Towns made a pair of 3s in the second half, he was nowhere near the player that’s known for scoring 20-plus points on a given night.
3. Disastrous third quarter: The time is now for the Nuggets to claim their first championship. But Denver can’t expect to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in June if they play how they did in the third quarter on Wednesday. The Nuggets allowed 40 points over those 12 minutes, letting the Timberwolves turn a 21-point deficit into a 2-point advantage by the start of the fourth. Asked by the TNT sideline reporter going into the final quarter what the Nuggets could do to fix things, Michael Malone was short: “Play defense.” Amen.
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