Ryan YoungStaff writerTue, April 21, 2026 at 5:27 AM UTC·2 min readThe Minnesota Timberwolves are still standing.
The Timberwolves rallied out of an early 19-point hole to knock off the Denver Nuggets 119-114 at Ball Arena on Monday night to even their opening-round playoff series. The win ensured that the Timberwolves had a legitimate chance to advance in the postseason, which is something the franchise has never pulled off after falling into an 0-2 hole.
The Nuggets took off immediately on Monday night, and nearly ended the game in the first quarter. They started on a 44-25 tear while simply overpowering the Timberwolves on both sides of the ball.
But, of course, that didn’t hold. The Timberwolves started clawing back and should have held the lead at halftime if Murray didn’t somehow sink an absolutely wild shot from the far side of the logo to close out the second period.
JAMAL MURRAY BEATS THE Q2 BUZZER FROM BEYOND HALF-COURT 🎯HE HAD 23 PTS (5 3PM) IN THE FIRST HALF 🔥WE ARE TIED AT THE BREAK IN GAME 2! pic.twitter.com/tna3lAPGla
Jokic took off in the third quarter and kept the Nuggets in it as the battle ensued. He dropped 14 points in that period alone, yet the Timberwolves just never went away.
Jokic took off in the third quarter and kept the Nuggets in it as the battle ensued. He dropped 16 points in that period alone, but the Timberwolves just never went away. They eventually took the lead back late in the fourth quarter, thanks to a dunk from Jaden McDaniels and a fastbreak layup from Donte DiVincenzo — both of which came after missed buckets from Jokic in the paint.
That was a brutal trend for the Nuggets, who managed just one made field goal over a nearly five-minute span before Aaron Gordon drilled a 3-pointer with 78 seconds on the clock. That brought Denver back within one. Jokic threw down a dunk over Rudy Gobert to keep them in it later, too.
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— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) April 21, 2026
While Murray had a look at a bucket to send the game into overtime, he was off the mark and allowed DiVincenzo one last easy dunk for good measure to seal the five-point win.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.