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Dane Mizutani: You knew the defending NBA champions weren’t going to go down easy

dane mizutani, pioneer press
·3 min read

Let’s be honest. There was no chance the Timberwolves were going to go a perfect 16-0 on their way to the NBA championship. They were never going to sweep the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets to clinch a spot in the Western Conference finals. That was not going to happen.

This was always going to be a heavyweight bout between the Timberwolves and Nuggets, even if that that brutal beatdown earlier this week suggested otherwise.

You knew the defending NBA champions weren’t going to go down easy. At least Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch did. He tried to put his team on notice.

“We’re going to get a championship-level performance from them tonight,” Finch said pregame. “There’s no doubt about it.”

That’s exactly what the Timberwolves got on Friday night at Target Center as the Nuggets landed a convincing counter-punch in Game 3 en route to a blowout 117-90 win.

Suddenly, the Timberwolves are on the ropes for the first time in the playoffs, though they still hold a 2-1 series lead heading into an important Game 4 on Sunday.

It was an absolute clinic from the Nuggets in Game 3. Whether it was everybody’s new favorite villain, Jamal Murray, dropping 24 points in emphatic fashion, Nikola Jokic coming ever so close to posting a casual triple-double, or the rest of the supporting cast actually chipping in for a change, the Nuggets were firing on all cylinders from the jump.

This isn’t at all surprising. There’s a sense of pride that comes with climbing the mountaintop, something the Nuggets have done and something the Timberwolves are hoping to do.

That’s why Nuggets coach Mike Malone knew a response was coming after watching helplessly from the bench as his team get demolished on their homecourt earlier this week. You could hear it in his voice.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen that from our group, ever, and I think that’s why it was such a surprise to many people that have come to respect and believe in the Nuggets,” Malone said pregame. “Not only did we get our butts kicked on the court, we didn’t face adversity. We kind of ran from it. We fell apart.”

The script completely flipped in Game 3. This time it was the Timberwolves getting run of the floor. The most hyped playoff game in 20 years did not go as planned.

A sold out crowd hoping for a chance to erupt never got a chance. The biggest outburst came when the Timberwolves let their emotions get the best of them down the stretch with Naz Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Kyle Anderson all getting whistled for technical fouls.

After a back and forth start to the game, the Timberwolves went ice cold from the field, as they made playing offense look incredibly hard for prolonged stretches. They trailed by as many as 20 points before halftime, however, largely because they also made playing defense look next to impossible.

It got even worse after halftime with the Timberwolves trailing by as many as 34 points before emptying the bench. This was not the same team that has been dominating the past few weeks. Not even close.

Until they are dethroned, the Nuggets, not the Timberwolves, are the defending NBA champions. They provided an emphatic reminder in Game 3. Just in case anybody forgot.

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