Nuggets go 'all hands on deck' to keep series, season alive vs. Timberwolves
Playing down a man thanks to Aaron Gordon's ailing calf, the Nuggets looked early and often to players whose previous roles in this series have varied from inconsistent to nonexistent.
DENVER — With the season on the line, Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman said pregame that Game 5 Monday night would be “all hands on deck. ” It wasn’t a smokescreen. Playing down a man thanks to Aaron Gordon’s ailing calf, the Nuggets looked early and often to players whose previous roles in this series have varied from inconsistent to nonexistent.
Spencer Jones starred. Cameron Johnson played his best game of the series. Jonas Valnciunas contributed.
Tyus Jones played his first non-garbage time minutes of the series as the Nuggets played 10 deep. The result was a 125-113 Nuggets win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to cut their series deficit to 3-2 and keep their season alive. Nikola Jokić plays best game of series Nikola Jokić (27 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds) and Jamal Murray (24 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds) led the way.
But they didn’t have to do it all, and they didn’t run out of gas down the stretch. For the first time since a Game 1 win, the Nuggets didn’t look overmatched after halftime. Instead they rode a 13-of-21 shooting effort from the field to a 37-point third quarter that iced the win and allowed a rowdy Denver crowd to spend the fourth quarter largely celebrating the extension of the season.
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