With their backs up against the wall, trailing 2-0 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Denver Nuggets dominated Game 3 on the road Friday night.
The 117-90 victory was much needed for the defending NBA champions, who looked flustered by Minnesota's constant defensive pressure over the first two games of the series. Now the Nuggets must win three of the next five games to make it back to the Western Conference Finals.
Here are three of the biggest takeaways from Denver's Game 3 win over the Timberwolves. Game 4 will take place in Minnesota on Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST.
Quick start
Prior to Game 3, Denver had been outscored in the first quarter in five of their seven postseason games, but they made sure to come out swinging Friday night with their season on the line.
Perhaps most important to the Nuggets' hot start was that they didn't commit a turnover in the first quarter, something they did on numerous occasions throughout the first two games of the series. Minnesota, meanwhile, committed three turnovers in the opening period and finished the night with 14 giveaways compared to Denver's 10.
Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. both had eight points in the first quarter to lead the Nuggets.
Entering the postseason, Denver was 3.6 points better on average than their opponents in a game's opening 12 minutes. Continuing to play well from the outset will benefit the Nuggets as they try to even the series in Game 4.
Return of Playoff Murray
Game 2 marked one of Denver guard Jamal Murray's worst performances in any game of his career so far. He finished shooting 3-for-18 (16.7%) from the field — his worst shooting performance of his career when taking at least 15 attempts.
Things were markedly different in Game 3, however, as Murray scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half to help the Nuggets build a 20-point lead midway through the second quarter.
Murray was hounded by Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaden McDaniels for most of the night once again, but he did a better job working around ball screens and finishing at the rim. And when he found himself in an advantageous switch against someone like Karl-Anthony Towns, he went right to work breaking his defender down and creating space for open jumpers.
On top of scoring 24 points and dishing out five assists, Murray also had three steals — including one in the second half on Anthony Edwards that led to a transition dunk. His three steals were the most he totaled in any game since he had four in an Apr. 9 win over the Utah Jazz
Murray scored 20-plus points in each of Denver's five games in Round 1, but Friday marked the first time he reached the mark against Minnesota. Prior to Game 3, he had made just nine of his 32 attempts from the field (28.1%).
Beating the odds
While the Nuggets looked more like themselves in Game 3, they still have a lot of work to do if they want to defy the odds and complete the series comeback.
Entering this postseason, NBA teams were 33-421 all-time in playoff series where they trailed 0-2. The last team to erase a 2-0 playoff deficit and still come back to win the series was the 2023 Warriors, who lost the first two games of the Western Conference first round to Sacramento before rallying to win four of the next five games.
The only time Denver has won a playoff series after losing Games 1 and 2 was in 1994, when it dropped its first two games to the Seattle Supersonics in Round 1 of the Western Conference playoffs before winning three in a row to close out the series.
The 1994 Nuggets eventually lost to the Utah Jazz, 4-3, in the Western Conference Semifinals. Denver was led that season by legends Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (18.0 points per game) and Dikembe Mutombo (11.8 rebounds, 4.1 blocks per game).
