Tuesday night in Denver, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player easily defeated the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Superstar Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets destroyed Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring 40 points (35 through three quarters), dishing out 13 assists, grabbing 7 rebounds, and dishing out 13 assists as the Nuggets won Game 5 112-97.
Jokić made 15 of his 22 field goals, and the Nuggets shot 55% as a unit on another productive night against the top-ranked Timberwolves defense in the NBA in the regular season.
After trailing by six points at the half, Minnesota launched an 11-3 run early in the third quarter of Tuesday’s Game 5 to take a two-point lead. It looked like the stage was set for a legendary second half in which the two best teams in the NBA traded blows.
Next came Nikola Jokic.
Jokic once again shown himself deserving of the title on the evening the Nuggets center was given his third MVP trophy at center court before the game started. After the score was deadlocked at 55 points apiece, Denver scored four points in a row. Jokic contributed to each and every bucket.
He then took over with his scores after that. It did not matter if it was Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson, Naz Reid, or the defensive player of the year. Jokic found a way to score no matter which bodies Minnesota threw at him or how many there were.
In the third quarter alone, Jokic finished with 16 points, four assists and three rebounds to help Denver build a 14-point advantage.
For the night, the current best player in basketball tallied 40 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds to power the Nuggets to a 112-97 victory.
The Nuggets lead the Western Conference semifinals series 3-2. Game 6 is Thursday in Minneapolis.
Jokic, fittingly, delivered the dagger Tuesday, a triple over the outstretched arm of Gobert to put Denver up 14 with 3 minutes, 9 seconds to play as Minnesota was trying to mount a late charge.
For the first time this season, the Timberwolves have lost three consecutive games. It couldn’t have come at a worse moment. Three games ago, the Wolves looked to be cruising into the West finals. Now, they’re facing elimination.
The offense has largely been to blame. It was especially anemic for much of Tuesday’s contest.
Without Mike Conley — who missed the game with a sore calf — Minnesota couldn’t find a consistent offensive rhythm. Denver consistently doubled Anthony Edwards, who was swarmed all evening, and also didn’t seem to have the same offensive burst he possessed in Game 4. Edwards finished with just 18 points on 5 for 15 shooting.
Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to tweak his knee in the first quarter in a collision with Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Towns briefly left the contest and hit the exercise bike before returning to action. He finished with 23 points and six rebounds.
The Wolves committed 14 turnovers that led to 18 Denver points.
The defending champion Nuggets tallied 60 points in the paint. They had 16 fast break points to Minnesota’s four.
Minnesota was on Tuesday in every way you could be outplayed. Over the past three games, it has led for a total of less than a minute during the second half.
On Thursday, the Wolves will have one more opportunity to swing the balance back in their favor. If not, a club hoping to win a title will play in Round 2.