Denver Nuggets grab 6th seed in the West after trouncing Minnesota Timberwolves 131-102 - NBA Recap
On Thursday night Denver Nuggets’ JaVale McGee led 7 Nuggets scorers in double figures to rout the Minnesota Timberwolves, 131-102, here at Target Center.
After the game Nuggets locked down their position on the 6th playoff spot (in the Western Conference).
Denver has been playing solid since they acquired McGee; he has been a consistent support for the team in the last 4 games (scoring in double figures). While on Thursday night he marshalled his team with 19 points (his best with
Nugget) and 5 boards. He was enthusiastic about the playoffs.
"I'm just excited about being in the playoffs and I plan on playing as hard as I have since I've been in Denver," McGee said. "As long as we go out and play like we have been playing, we should be fine."
Guard Arron Afflalo netted 18 and Danilo Gallinari scored 17. While Kenneth Faried, Ty Lawson and reserve Timofey Mozgov scored 15 apiece.
Things were quite the opposite on Wolves bench as it was the last appearance of Brad Miller his 14 years of professional career came to an end of Thursday. He had 4 points, 4 assists and 4 boards. He left the game with 5 minutes
remaining in the 4th and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
He couldn’t hide his tears when he was asked about his last day of career.
"No, I've always been the tough guy," Miller said when asked if expected to be this emotional. "I had a couple friends that came into town. ... I've been all cool all day and coming out, it really hit me hard."
Guard Jose Juan Barea scored a game high 20 points and dished out 5 treys. Nikola Pekovic came up with a double-double scoring 18 points to go with 10 boards. Michael Beasley and Wayne Ellington collected 13 and 12 points respectively
coming off the bench. While Martell Webster poured in 11 points in Minnesota last game of season.
As far as the game was concerned, it was a completely one sided affair and Nuggets didn’t allow Wolves to challenge their hegemony throughout the game.
The opening frame was a well contested affair as with 6:36 in hand the scores were tied at 18 each. With 5 unanswered points Nuggets created a breathing space, 23-18. The hosts followed them closely but Denver capped off the frame
after stretching their lead to 29-25.
Williams opened the 2nd frame with a layup reducing the gap to 29-27 but the away side rebutted furiously. They pulled off a huge 16-2 spurt and widened the gap to 45-29. They went on to conclude the period with a comfortable
61-42 lead.
In the 3rd frame Wolves tried to harness the mammoth lead but their efforts to do so went into vain. As deep into the quarter Nuggets had ballooned their advantage to 86-60 they went onto to conclude the 3rd
with a 93-69 advantage.
Nuggets were merciless they kept on punishing the Hosts in the 4th. They opened the decisive frame with a 9-1 run and widened the gap to 102-70.
The 32 points lead took its toll on the Wolves and they melted down. Nuggets cruised through the segment and grabbed the game, 131-102.
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