National Basketball Association
Denver 109, Minnesota 80
When: 10:30 PM ET, Sunday, April 16, 2023
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Officials:
#58 Josh Tiven, #26 Pat Fraher, #71 Rodney Mott, #7 Lauren Holtkamp
Attendance:
19628
By Field Level Media
Jamal Murray had 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Nikola Jokic finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds and the host Denver Nuggets routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-80 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Sunday night.
Michael Porter Jr. had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 15 points, Bruce Brown added 14 points and Aaron Gordon had 13 points for the top-seeded Nuggets.
Anthony Edwards scored 18 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Nowell scored 12 points, Kyle Anderson added 11 and Rudy Gobert finished with 13 rebounds for Minnesota.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Denver.
The Timberwolves rallied from an eight-point deficit to lead 19-18 late in the first quarter. The Nuggets went back in front and led 26-24 early in the second, and then put together an 11-3 run to go up by 10.
Minnesota got within 45-40, but Denver finished the period strong and took a 55-44 lead into halftime.
The Nuggets capitalized on the Timberwolves' cold start to the second half. Gordon made four free throws, Caldwell-Pope hit a layup and Porter drained a long 3-pointer to make it 64-45.
Anderson hit Minnesota's first field goal of the third quarter with 8:18 left, but Porter answered that 3-pointer with his third make of the night from deep.
The Timberwolves cut the deficit to 69-53, but Denver took control in the final 4:12 of the third.
Gordon split a pair of free throws and hit a 3-pointer and Caldwell-Pope made a finger roll to put the Nuggets ahead 75-53. Austin Rivers briefly ended the outburst with a 3-pointer, but Brown and Caldwell-Pope each hit a trey and DeAndre Jordan dunked to make it 83-58.
Things got physical when Anderson was called for a Flagrant 1 foul on Christian Braun with 35 seconds left in the period. Braun made one of the free-throw attempts and Murray nailed Denver's sixth 3-pointer of the quarter to make it 87-58 heading into the fourth.
The Nuggets went ahead by 32 early in the fourth and easily closed it out.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Minnesota |
|
Denver |
|
Anthony Edwards 18 |
Scoring |
Jamal Murray 24 |
|
Anthony Edwards 5 |
Assists |
Jamal Murray 8 |
|
Rudy Gobert 13 |
Rebounds |
Nikola Jokic 14 |
|
Anthony Edwards 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Aaron Gordon 5 |
|
Kyle Anderson 2 |
Steals |
Aaron Gordon 1 |
|
Rudy Gobert 2 |
Blocks |
Christian Braun 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Minnesota
|
80 |
37.0 |
11-36 |
9-16 |
18 |
38 |
6 |
6 |
12 |
| Denver
|
109 |
45.6 |
16-39 |
11-17 |
24 |
54 |
4 |
6 |
11 |
Upcoming Games
-
Denver will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .642 after a win and .655 after a loss.
-
Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Denver. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .537 after a win and .488 after a loss.
For more information, contact us