Wolves defeat Nuggets to make top 8 for first time in 14 years

Thread Content

The final day of the 2017-18 NBA regular season arrived, with the Denver Nuggets playing a crucial match away against the Minnesota Timberwolves. At the end of the game, the Wolves narrowly defeated the Nuggets 112-106 in overtime, making it to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Full match scores: 26-29, 28-33, 27-24, 20-15, overtime 5-11 (Nuggets ahead). On the Timberwolves’ side, Jimmy Butler scored 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists; Tagg added 17 points and 7 assists; Donces scored 26 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 assists; Wiggins contributed 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists; while Gibson had 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. On the Nuggets’ side, Milap scored 10 points and 7 rebounds, Barton scored 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, Jokić scored 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists, Murray scored 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, while Gary Harris scored 10 points. From the start of the first quarter, the Nuggets took control of the game right away; Barton and Milsap hit three-point shots in succession, while Jokić and Murray also managed to score points, giving the home team a temporary lead of 11-6. But after that, the Wolves stepped up their game; thanks to Downes scoring 8 points in a row, the home team managed to take the lead back. Later in this quarter, Giannis scored from three points, and Gibson also made a layup, but Harris and Jokić quickly scored in response. At the end of the quarter, the Nuggets were behind 26-29. In the second quarter, the Wolves grew more and more aggressive in their play. Midway through this quarter, Butler scored three free throws after being fouled from outside the paint, and the home team led by as much as 10 points at one point. Seeing the Nuggets in trouble, Murray stepped up and scored three-pointers to help his team stop the bleeding. After that, Barton continued with powerful layups and consecutive three-point shots; by the half-time break, he had scored 16 points on his own, helping the Nuggets to keep up with the score. But before the end of the first half, Butler hit a three-pointer, and the Wolves went into the second half leading 62-54 by 8 points. With the teams changing sides, the match became even more closely contested. The back-and-forth battle continued into the final quarter, with the Wolves still leading by 8 points. But in the final quarter, with a three-pointer by Jokić, Murray stepped up and scored 7 points in a row – with one layup, one step-back shot, and another three-pointer – thereby bringing the score back to parity with 2 minutes left in the game! From then on, both sides gave it their all; Murray lost his shoe during a scramble, and thereafter he defended while holding onto the shoe. As the match neared its end, both teams exerted extremely intense defensive efforts, and several attempts to score failed, which led to the game going into overtime. In overtime, the competition on the court intensified, with Barton’s three-pointer and Milsap’s layup giving the Nuggets the lead. But the Wolves didn’t panic; Butler’s free throw helped the Wolves stop the bleeding, while Teague’s turnaround jumper enabled them to take the lead back. In the subsequent matches, the Nuggets resorted to a fouling strategy, but their counterattacks failed time after time. In the end, after the full match, the Wolves narrowly defeated the Nuggets 112-106 in overtime, making it to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.