Twin Towers that Surpassed MVP... NBA Minnesota Advances to West Finals for First Time in 20 Years
Jokic held on and won 98-90 in the final 7th game against Denver... Overturning the 20-point lead, Indiana beat New York in the East... Boston and Conference Finals
The Minnesota Timberwolves, led by the 'Twin Towers', defeated the Denver Nuggets, led by the best active player, Nikola Jokic, and advanced to the NBA Western Conference finals for the first time in 20 years.
Minnesota defeated Denver 98-90 in Game 7 of the 2nd round (4 wins out of 7) of the 2023-2024 NBA Playoffs (PO) Western Conference held at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, USA on the 20th (Korean time) and became the final winner.
Minnesota, who won the fateful Game 7, will play the West finals against the Dallas Mavericks, who took the first place in the West in the regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The first game will be held at 9:30 a.m. on the 23rd at Target Center, Minnesota's home. 토토사이트
It's been 20 years since Minnesota passed the second round and advanced to the conference finals, since the 2003-2004 season, when club legend Kevin Garnett was very active.
The 19th, local time, when the conference finals were confirmed, is Garnet's birthday.
Minnesota, which ranked 3rd in the regular league with a record of 56 wins and 26 losses in the regular league, defeated the Phoenix Suns in the first round by winning all four games, and even caught Denver, which ranked 2nd in the regular league (57 wins, 25 losses), in the second round.
Defending champion Denver aimed for a second straight victory with Jokic, who collected his third regular league Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy in his career, but could not overcome Minnesota, which boasts the league's highest score.
Denver led 53-38 in the first half, and Jermall Murray's five consecutive points widened the gap to 20 points in the early third quarter.
From this point on, Minnesota's counterattack began.
It was right to appoint 'Defender of the Year' Rudy Gobert and Minnesota's 'Twin Tower' big man Karl-Anthony Towns as Jokic's dedicated defenders.
While Towns showed concentration and reduced Jokic's power, young ace Anthony Edwards, who had been sluggish with 4 points in the first half, came back to life.
He scored 9 points in the 3rd quarter and also delivered 3 assists, and at the end of the quarter, he stole the ball with his head and made an exciting dunk to make the score 63-65.
Instead of Towns, who was fouled while defending Nikola Jokic, Naz Reid, who won the Sixth Man of the Year Award, paired with Gobert in the fourth quarter and was in full swing.
Gobert and Reed each scored 8 points in the fourth quarter to dominate the scoring, and in a fast break situation 3 minutes before the end of the game, Edwards took Reed's pass and scored 3 points, putting Minnesota up 92-82.
Denver exerted its final strength with Nikola Jokic pouring in 14 points in the fourth quarter, but his teammates missed 8 out of 9 outside shots, ending the season with a bitter comeback loss.
In Minnesota, six players, including Jayden McDaniels and Towns (23 points), performed evenly, scoring in double digits.
Jokic contributed with 34 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 assists.
“It feels great to work together with the best teammates in the world and beat a great team like Denver, a championship team,” Gobert said after the game, according to the Associated Press.
In the East, the Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks 130-109 in the final 7th game of the second round and advanced to the conference finals.
Indiana (6th place, 47 wins, 35 losses) was behind New York (2nd place, 50 wins, 32 losses) in the regular league standings, so New York's dominance was expected, but Indiana had the last laugh due to injuries.
On this day, New York's ace Jaylen Brunson left the court with an injury to his left hand, and OG Anunoby, who was in charge of defending the opposing ace, also left the game during the game due to hamstring (muscle behind the thigh) pain.
Tyrese Haliburton was recorded as the team's top scorer with 26 points, and forward Pascal Siakam, who joined through a trade during the season, also played his part with 20 points.
In New York, Dante DiVincenzo scored 39 points, but could not overcome the absence of Brunson and others.
Indiana, which defeated New York, will clash with the Boston Celtics (64 wins, 18 losses, 78%), which has the highest regular season winning percentage among the 30 teams in the East and West this season, to determine which team will advance to the championship as the East representative.