Their backs were against the wall, the stakes were high facing elimination and the Timberwolves returned to form, delivering one of their best performances of the postseason.
The Wolves were in control from start to finish in a blowout 115-70 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series Thursday night at Target Center in Minneapolis. That evens the series at 3-3 and ensures there will be a Game 7 Sunday night in Denver.
The Timberwolves were every part of the team that beat the Nuggets on their home court in Games 1 and 2 and then some. They were the same team that flustered the Nuggets with their stifling defense. They were a team that held the Nuggets to just 30% shooting from the field and a lowly 19% from 3.
Nikola Jokic, coming off a masterclass of a performance in Game 5, was the only Nuggets player who ever found any kind of a rhythm offensively. Jokic is a player who's impossible to completely shut down, but the Timberwolves did about a good a job as possible, holding him to 22 points, nine rebounds and two assists, a far cry from the game he delivered the previous time out.
The defense provided by Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert was a key reason why. The two were able to collapse on Jokic and keep him out of a rhythm.
"I think the main thing (Thursday) was his ass stayed out of foul trouble like I told him in the Phoenix series," Edwards said of Towns. "That was all that was. I cussed him out. Every chance I get, 'Bro, stop (expletive) fouling.' ... KAT played great (Thursday) on both sides of the ball."
Towns, despite aggravating his knee in Game 5, delivered a strong performance, even if he had an off shooting night. It was an all-around game for Towns with 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
Jaden McDaniels has struggled to shoot throughout the series, but he sure didn't Thursday night. McDaniels tallied 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting that included a 3-for-5 mark from 3-point range. And that's in addition to the job he and Anthony Edwards did in containing Jamal Murray, who scored just 10 points on 4-for-18 shooting while recording five assists.
"Just not wanting to go home was a big factor for me (Thursday) and just trying to do whatever I could to help my team," McDaniels said.
The Nuggets offense just wasn't there at all. Aaron Gordon was their second-leading scorer with 12 points. Their entire bench combined for just 11 points despite Denver waving the white flag and bringing out the ends of its bench for the final 10 minutes of the game trailing by 30 points.
The only real adversity the Timberwolves faced all night was early in the first quarter when the Nuggets opened the game on a 9-2 run. Minnesota called a quick timeout and proceeded to answer with a 20-0 run that for all intents and purposes put the game away quick.
"There were two responses. There was the response to the last three games, but the most important response was when we got down 9-2," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "We did a really good job of focusing and coming back with good energy, getting our defense in place."
Edwards, who struggled with Denver double teaming him on every possession in Game 4, got off to a hot start, scoring 14 of his game-high 27 points in the quarter. Edwards delivered in a big moment.
Edwards battled all night. He even took a hard fall during the third quarter right on his tail bone that he was slow to get up from. No matter. He came back to shoot a pair of free throws and finished out the game until the Timberwolves were able to bring out the end of their bench.
"I fell pretty hard. And I'm used to falling like that in football when I got on pads and stuff, so I'm well protected," Edwards said. "I didn't have any pads on (Thursday), so I felt that one for sure. It took some time for me to get used to the pain, but I'm good now."
Along with the 27 points, Edwards had four boards and four assists and had a plus-minus of plus-43.
Edwards said the difference between this game and the last game was Mike Conley, who returned after a calf strain sidelined him in Game 5. Conley had 13 points and five assists.
“It’s a big difference because last game I was trying to get people involved and be aggressive, but when Mike playing, I don’t have to worry about getting people involved, that’s his job," Edwards said. "(Thursday) it was no getting people involved for me, I don’t think I had that many assists tonight."
By the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves were already up 31-14. The Nuggets cut that down to 12 early in the second quarter before the Wolves answered with another 13-0 run to take control.
It was another game in this series where the script was completely flipped from one game to the next. The Timberwolves were unable to find an offensive rhythm in Game 5, even missing wide-open shots.
This time it was the Nuggets who could never claw their way in, just playing uncharacteristically poor offense and missing open looks. The Timberwolves defense sure didn't make things easy either.
The sold-out Target Center crowd of 19,187 had plenty of things to be happy about Thursday night. Julian Strawther missed a pair of free throws in the waning minutes to ensure free Chick-fil-A on Friday. The Timberwolves won, ensuring a Game 7 against the Nuggets Sunday night in Denver.
And their faith was restored by the end of the night, as the crowd erupted with a "Wolves in seven" chant. That will remain to be seen, but the Timberwolves sure delivered on every level in their most important game of the season Thursday night.
They'll just need to do it again Sunday night in hostile territory.
