{"id":1912039,"date":"2026-05-01T04:27:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1912039"},"modified":"2026-05-01T04:27:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:27:31","slug":"injury-ravaged-timberwolves-complete-stunning-upset-of-nuggets-in-game-6-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1912039","title":{"rendered":"Injury-ravaged Timberwolves complete stunning upset of Nuggets in Game 6: Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"
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No Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo and Ayo Dosunmu. No problem for the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

The shorthanded No. 6-seeded Timberwolves closed out the first-round playoff series against the No. 3 Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, pulling off a 110-98 upset win in Game 6 at Target Center.<\/p>\n

Minnesota advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the third straight season and will face Victor Wembanyama and the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cComplete disappointment \u2026 hard to look at the whole thing in totality because it just sucks,\u201d Nuggets coach David Adelman said.<\/p>\n

Jaden McDaniels (32 points and 10 rebounds), Terrence Shannon Jr. (24 points), Julius Randle (18 points) and Naz Reid (15 points) stepped up with Edwards (knee), DiVincenzo (Achilles), Dosunmu (calf) and Kyle Anderson (illness) out. Dosunmu, who averaged 30.5 points per game in his two starts in the series, and Anderson were ruled out right before Thursday\u2019s tipoff.<\/p>\n

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Shannon moved into the starting lineup for the Wolves, who used only eight players. He had a key layup and free throw with less than two minutes remaining to extend the lead to 103-97.<\/p>\n

Nikola Joki\u0107 had 28 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for Denver, which got within three late but failed to score in the final 1:26. Cameron Johnson had 27 points. Jamal Murray struggled, finishing with 12 points on 4-for-17 shooting.<\/p>\n

Here are some key takeaways from Game 6.<\/p>\n

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Denver\u2019s demise<\/h2>\n

There will be time to dissect all the particulars of the Nuggets\u2019 demise in this series \u2014 the poor 3-point shooting, the inefficiency of Murray, the funk of Joki\u0107 \u2014 but the microscope first must focus on the most glaring deficiency: Minnesota played harder. All series.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Nikola<\/p>\n
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\n Nikola Joki\u0107 at center of another altercation in Nuggets-Timberwolves series\n <\/div>\n
\n Jokic and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaylen Clark got into it in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of their playoff series.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

With the exception of a Game 5 rout in Denver, the Nuggets never looked comfortable, never looked themselves, and that is in large part due to Minnesota outworking them. The Timberwolves\u2019 defense was up in the shirts of the Nuggets all series, giving the ballhandlers no space to operate. McDaniels handcuffed Murray. Rudy Gobert bothered Joki\u0107. And the rest of the Timberwolves outhustled the Nuggets to rebounds and loose balls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still want to be a Nugget forever,\u201d Joki\u0107 said.<\/p>\n

Injuries took away Minnesota\u2019s best player (Edwards), its most diverse player (DiVincenzo) and its most explosive bench player (Dosunmu). But none of Minnesota\u2019s injuries diminished their want-to. The series was won because Minnesota wanted it more.<\/p>\n

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Murray stopper<\/h2>\n

Another Minnesota-Denver series, another dominant McDaniels defensive performance on Murray.<\/p>\n

Two years after holding Murray to his worst playoff series performance, McDaniels backed it up with another smothering performance on the Nuggets\u2019 standout point guard. Murray averaged 23.7 points in the series but went 4-for-17 in Game 6 and for the series shot 35.6 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from 3-point range.<\/p>\n

This comes after Murray scored just two points in the second half of Game 7 in 2024, when he finished the series shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range.<\/p>\n

When it comes to personal rivalries in the West, the McDaniels-Murray matchup is now at the top, with McDaniels holding a commanding edge. \u2014 Jason Quick<\/em><\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Spurs<\/p>\n
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\n Spurs vs. Timberwolves series preview and predictions: Victor Wembanyama faces his mentor\n <\/div>\n
\n The Western Conference semifinals will feature a battle of French bigs. Here’s what our writers will be watching in the series.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Another hero for Minnesota<\/h2>\n

Wolves fans have been clamoring for Shannon all series. With no other options given their plethora of injuries, Chris Finch started the second-year wing, and he came through in an enormous way.<\/p>\n

Shannon made 9 of 20 shots, attacking Denver\u2019s inept paint defense over and over again to help fill the scoring void left by the injuries to Edwards, DiVincenzo and Dosunmu.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets simply could not keep up with Shannon\u2019s speed and power. He bulldozed through Johnson and blazed past Murray and Spencer Jones for great looks over and over again. He also had six rebounds and played solid defense. His 3-point play with 1:43 to go gave the Wolves the breathing room they needed to hold on.<\/p>\n

These are the kinds of performances a team needs to pull off an upset of the magnitude that the Wolves just pulled off. The unheralded role player coming out of nowhere, and Shannon did just that.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t just a win, this was a miracle. Down three of their best players. Facing their bitter rivals. Shannon, and the Wolves, just wanted it more than the Nuggets. And they took it. \u2014 Jon Krawczynski<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo and Ayo Dosunmu. No problem for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The shorthanded No. 6-seeded Timberwolves closed out the first-round playoff series against the No. 3 Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, pulling off a 110-98 upset win in Game 6 at Target Center. Minnesota advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1912039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1912039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1912039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1912039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1912039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}