The NBA playoffs continue on Saturday as the No. 2 Denver Nuggets host the No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the first round. They won behind the heroics of Jamal Murray, who sank the game-winning shot at the buzzer to send the Nuggets to the 108-106 win on Monday, his second of the series. He is the only player since 1998 to hit multiple game-winning shots in the same series in the last five seconds.
Nikola Jokić led the Nuggets, averaging 28.2 points, 16.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.2 steals in the series. The two-time Most Valuable Player has scored at least 20 points in 24 consecutive playoff games, tied for the longest streak in franchise history. Murray averaged 23.6 points and 7.2 assists, and Michael Porter Jr. posted 22.8 points per game.
Related
NBA playoffs 2024: The complete championship odds for every team
The Timberwolves, playing in the postseason for the third straight year, won their first playoff series since 2004 after completing a four-game sweep of the Phoenix Suns in the first round, the first such occurrence in franchise history. The sweep also marked the first in professional sports history of any team in Minnesota.
Anthony Edwards produced 40 points, nine rebounds and six assists in Game 4, the most in a closeout game in franchise history. He finished the series averaging 31 points, eight rebounds and 6.3 assists to become just the seventh player to average those numbers in the first round of the playoffs since the league moved to its current format in 1984.
The playoff series between the Timberwolves and Nuggets is a rematch of last year’s first-round series, in which the Nuggets won in five games. The two teams split the regular-season series this year, 2-2, with each winning once at home and on the road.