The NBA's best rivalry just got spicier with 'all bad defenders' dig at Nuggets
We need seven games of this one.
The NBA's best rivalry delivered another classic Monday night, as the Minnesota Timberwolves battled back from a 19-point deficit against the Denver Nuggets to tie their playoff series at 1-1. What did we do to deserve this in the first round? This is the third time in the last four years these teams have met in the playoffs.
Monday was their 30th game overall in that span, with the teams splitting those contests an even 15-15. They're so familiar with one another, the players can't deny it's a rivalry, which they typically downplay. "I don't think there's anything else to call it but a rivalry," Anthony Edwards said before the series started.
Sure enough, that intensity has spilled over onto the floor. The Nuggets dug out of a 12-point hole to land their Game 1 victory. The Wolves responded with their own double-digit comeback win.
Four-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert took out the frustration of a fourth-place finish in this year's award race by shutting down three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. We even got a tie-up between best players in the final minute, as Jokic tried to rip the ball away from Edwards and the two exchanged words. Jokiฤ and ant go at it.