basketball
NBA: Nuggets have to play seventh game against Minnesota
The Denver Nuggets lost to the Timberwolves despite 22 points from Nikola Jokic. photo
© David Zalubowski/AP/dpa
A very poor hit rate will be the NBA champion’s downfall. Denver missed out on an early entry into the Western Conference finals – now the last game decides.
Defending champion Denver Nuggets are in the playoffs of the North American Professional Basketball League NBA missed early entry into the semi-finals. The team around three-time MVP Nikola Jokic clearly lost the sixth game of the best-of-seven series at the Minnesota Timberwolves 70:115 and conceded the equalizer to make it 3:3. The decision about a place in the Western Conference finals will be made in the seventh game on Sunday in Denver.
The Nuggets suffered a catastrophic shooting rate in Minneapolis. Just over 30 percent of attempts from the field ended up in the basket, and from the three-point line the rate was only a shocking 19.4 percent. Given this yield, the Timberwolves had an easy time of it. For the hosts, Anthony Edwards was once again the outstanding player with 27 points, while for the Nuggets, 22 points from Jokic were far from enough.
The winner of this series will face either the Dallas Mavericks around German Maximilian Kleber or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the West final. The Mavericks lead 3-2 heading into game six on Saturday in Dallas.