Injury-ravaged Timberwolves complete stunning upset of Nuggets in Game 6: Takeaways

Atlantic76ersCelticsKnicksNetsRaptorsCentralBucksBullsCavaliersPacersPistonsSoutheastHawksHeatHornetsMagicWizardsSouthwestGrizzliesMavericksPelicansRocketsSpursNorthwestJazzNuggetsThunderTimberwolvesTrail BlazersPacificClippersKingsLakersSunsWarriorsScores & ScheduleStandingsThe Bounce NewsletterNBA DraftPodcastsFantasyNBA OddsNBA PicksLatest Mock DraftWhat Makes Up Championship DNA?Player Poll: Who is the MVP?Player Poll: Who Will Win Title?NBA Playoffs Terrence Shannon Jr. helped the No. 6-seeded Wolves overcome myriad injuries to upset the No. 3 Nuggets in the first round. Stephen Maturen / Getty Images Share article40No Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo and Ayo Dosunmu. No problem for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The shorthanded No. 6-seeded Timberwolves closed out the first-round playoff series against the No. 3 Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, pulling off a 110-98 upset win in Game 6 at Target Center. Minnesota advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the third straight season and will face Victor Wembanyama and the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs. “Complete disappointment … hard to look at the whole thing in totality because it just sucks,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. Jaden McDaniels (32 points and 10 rebounds), Terrence Shannon Jr. (24 points), Julius Randle (18 points) and Naz Reid (15 points) stepped up with Edwards (knee), DiVincenzo (Achilles), Dosunmu (calf) and Kyle Anderson (illness) out. Dosunmu, who averaged 30.5 points per game in his two starts in the series, and Anderson were ruled out right before Thursday’s tipoff. Shannon moved into the starting lineup for the Wolves, who used only eight players. He had a key layup and free throw with less than two minutes remaining to extend the lead to 103-97. Nikola Jokić had 28 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for Denver, which got within three late but failed to score in the final 1:26. Cameron Johnson had 27 points. Jamal Murray struggled, finishing with 12 points on 4-for-17 shooting. Here are some key takeaways from Game 6. There will be time to dissect all the particulars of the Nuggets’ demise in this series — the poor 3-point shooting, the inefficiency of Murray, the funk of Jokić — but the microscope first must focus on the most glaring deficiency: Minnesota played harder. All series. With the exception of a Game 5 rout in Denver, the Nuggets never looked comfortable, never looked themselves, and that is in large part due to Minnesota outworking them. The Timberwolves’ defense was up in the shirts of the Nuggets all series, giving the ballhandlers no space to operate. McDaniels handcuffed Murray. Rudy Gobert bothered Jokić. And the rest of the Timberwolves outhustled the Nuggets to rebounds and loose balls. “I still want to be a Nugget forever,” Jokić said. Injuries took away Minnesota’s best player (Edwards), its most diverse player (DiVincenzo) and its most explosive bench player (Dosunmu). But none of Minnesota’s injuries diminished their want-to. The series was won because Minnesota wanted it more. Another Minnesota-Denver series, another dominant McDaniels defensive performance on Murray. Two years after holding Murray to his worst playoff series performance, McDaniels backed it up with another smothering performance on the Nuggets’ standout point guard. Murray averaged 23.7 points in the series but went 4-for-17 in Game 6 and for the series shot 35.6 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from 3-point range. This comes after Murray scored just two points in the second half of Game 7 in 2024, when he finished the series shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. When it comes to personal rivalries in the West, the McDaniels-Murray matchup is now at the top, with McDaniels holding a commanding edge. — Jason Quick Wolves fans have been clamoring for Shannon all series. With no other options given their plethora of injuries, Chris Finch started the second-year wing, and he came through in an enormous way. Shannon made 9 of 20 shots, attacking Denver’s inept paint defense over and over again to help fill the scoring void left by the injuries to Edwards, DiVincenzo and Dosunmu. The Nuggets simply could not keep up with Shannon’s speed and power. He bulldozed through Johnson and blazed past Murray and Spencer Jones for great looks over and over again. He also had six rebounds and played solid defense. His 3-point play with 1:43 to go gave the Wolves the breathing room they needed to hold on. These are the kinds of performances a team needs to pull off an upset of the magnitude that the Wolves just pulled off. The unheralded role player coming out of nowhere, and Shannon did just that. This wasn’t just a win, this was a miracle. Down three of their best players. Facing their bitter rivals. Shannon, and the Wolves, just wanted it more than the Nuggets. And they took it. — Jon Krawczynski Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms