Denver Nuggets choke away 20-point lead in Game 7 to Timberwolves

The Nuggets paged Dr. Heimlich.

In their biggest game of the season, the defending champs choked. It sounds unfair because of the difficulty of repeating, because of the competition, but is not when weighed against history. The Nuggets are the first team to squander a 20-point lead in a Game 7.

Wasn’t it bad enough that the Avs broke our hearts on Friday night?

There’s no way to overstate how crushing this loss is in context with this team, this time, this place. When Jamal Murray sank the second bucket of the third quarter, the Nuggets owned a 58-38 advantage over the Minnesota Timberwolves. They were at home in front of a crowd creating chaos. They were confident.

It should have been safe. Like in a Wells Fargo truck. Then suddenly, the Timberwolves turned into Ben Affleck’s crew in “The Town.” The Timberwolves, as they are wont to do, were always going to punch back. But no one expected this. Not in Denver with everything on the line.

What happened?

“I have no clue,” said Murray, who finished with a game-high 35 points. “I could have been better.”

The third quarter will forever be remembered around these parts, conjuring the type of pain associated with Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell lofting a touchdown pass to Jimmy Smith in the corner of the end zone in the 1996 divisional playoffs vs. the Broncos.

The Timberwolves closed the period on a 28-9 run. The Nuggets held a one-point lead more like a greased pig than a grudge. Minnesota deserves credit for the burst, especially the enigmatic Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored eight points in the period. But the look in the mirror will sting for months. The Nuggets fell into bad habits.

They became too comfortable taking 3s, eschewing drives that create fouls and temper momentum. It does not matter if you make them. No cares about the shot selection. That is the modern NBA. But the Nuggets shot the Timberwolves back into the game.

Denver missed 9 of 10 3s in the third. They shot 5 of 19 from the field in the quarter. They took more 3s than twos and it helped produce one hell of a collapse. Coach Michael Malone struggled with the sudden ending. The Nuggets woke up Sunday seeing a clear path to the NBA Finals as a heavy favorite vs. the Dallas Mavericks, then went to sleep trying to make sense of their third home defeat in this series.

“The season is over. That’s what’s hard. (Bleep) being up 20,” said Malone, stressing he was proud of his group for their effort despite the result. “To lose Games 1 and 2 and 7, no one would have predicted that. Obviously you have to protect your homecourt.”

There is one main reason the Nuggets are no longer playing, left to view the postseason results from parts unknown after an exhausting 12 months. They did not shoot well this postseason, a problem amplified against a Minnesota team that ranked first defensively. In the Nuggets’ three losses, they averaged 84 points per game. They could belch out that number in three quarters during the playoffs a year ago. The Timberwolves made life difficult, doubling Nikola Jokic and scrambling after Murray. They took a calculated risk that the dynamic duo could not beat them.

They were right.

The Other Guys became lost in the margins. Aaron Gordon expended energy, but it did not translate statistically. He finished with more fouls (five) than points (four). An X-factor in wins became exasperating on Sunday. And Michael Porter Jr. failed to fill the void.

He was the reason, in so many ways, why the Nuggets dispatched the Lakers in five games. Against, Minnesota, Porter became a rumor. He lost his touch from distance. He impacted the game early with seven first-half rebounds. But the Nuggets needed his scoring.

He walked off the court with seven points, making three shots and only one from behind the arc. He failed to reach double figures in five of the seven games. After averaging 22.8 points vs. the Lakers, he sunk to 7.7 points per game against Minnesota.

“We all shot below 50 percent,” said Murray, accepting the blame.

It is hard to fathom the Nuggets losing with Jokic and Murray combing for 69 points. Truth is they would not have last May. They never faced a team like the Timberwolves that was starving, desperate to write the most storied chapter in franchise history. They have never done anything like this. But Anthony Edwards now plays the game like no one else, so everything seems possible for Minnesota.

Like it did for the Avalanche last year. The crown takes its toll. There is a reason no team has repeated since Golden State in 2018. The Nuggets did not have a chip on their shoulder in 2023. They had the entire bag of Doritos.