Jamal Murray hit another big playoff shot Sunday to help propel the Nuggets to victory. (David Berding/Getty Images)
The champs are back.
Led by sizzling shooting and a stunning surge to conclude the second quarter, the Denver Nuggets secured a 115-107 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. After dropping the first two games at home, Denver’s now tied the series at 2-2 and re-seized the home court advantage it ceded in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Nuggets took control on Sunday with a 12-0 run late in the first quarter that ended with the Denver leading, 29-24. A 12-2 run to start the second extended the lead to 41-26 before Anthony Edwards clawed the Timberwolves to back within 56-49.
Then the Nuggets stunned Target Center.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope matched an Anthony Edwards 3-pointer with one of his own with 20 seconds left in the half. Aaron Gordon then stripped Edwards to set up a Michael Porter Jr. fast-break dunk with 1.6 seconds left in the half, seemingly capping a 5-0 Nuggets run to conclude the quarter. But Denver wasn’t done.
Jamal Murray stole an errant Nickeil Alexander-Walker inbounds pass down the right sideline and launched the ball from 55 feet as the clocked ticked down. It sank through the net as the buzzer sounded to cap an 8-0 run in the final 20 seconds of the half to extend Denver’s lead to 64-49.
A 16-point Denver lead had been cut to seven then re-extended back to 15 in the blink of an eye. Edwards continued to lead the Timberwolves fight after halftime. But Minnesota never recovered.
Minnesota cut its deficit to as close as 113-107 in the final minute. But the Nuggets maintained a double-digit lead through most of the second half to send the series back to Denver for a pivotal Game 5 at home. They’ve regained their swagger after being outmatched and outplayed by the upstart Timberwolves in the first two games of the series.
Like in their Game 3 win on Friday, the Nuggets won the game with hot shooting from the field and from beyond the 3-point arc. Murray, Nikola Jokić and Aaron Gordon took turns in starring roles to fight back a 44-point effort from…
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