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The top-seeded Denver Nuggets routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-80 Sunday night to send a message to the other championship contenders.
Rampant Nuggets destroy Timberwolves
Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray scored 24 points and added 8 assists as the Nuggets dismantled a poor Timberwolves side to take game 1, in dominant fashion.
Nikola Jokic added 13 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists in 28 minutes and Michael Porter Jr. scored 18 points as Denver snapped a five-game skid in playoff openers.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 18 points. Karl-Anthony Towns, who was rounding into form this month after missing 52 games with a bad calf, missed 10 of his first 12 shots and finished with 11 points.
The Timberwolves' offense was uncharacteristically bad and was held to under 82 points for the first time since 2016.
The Nuggets were in excellent form with their three stars combining for 55 points, 33 rebounds, and 16 assists, with just two combined turnovers.
The Timberwolves just had no answer defensively and their cause was not helped by the absence of Jaden McDaniels, their best perimeter defender, who broke his right hand punching a wall in Minnesota's final regular season game.
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23:55 - 16.04.2023
NBA PLAYOFFS Giannis Antetokounmpo suffers nasty injury as Milwaukee Bucks drop Game 1 to Miami Heat
Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out in the 1st quarter as the Milwaukee Bucks start their playoff campaign with a loss to the Miami Heat.
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Game 2 is Wednesday night in Denver and anything short of a win for the Timberwolves and they can probably kiss the series goodbye.
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