NBA
Are the Nuggets eliminated if they lose against the Timberwolves today, May 19?
Chasing back-to-back NBA titles, Michael Malone’s Denver Nuggets face a crunch Conference Semi-Finals clash with the Minnesota Timberwolves today.
The Denver Nuggets’ bid to win successive NBA championships is on the line today, as the Coloradans host the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
After the Timberwolves levelled the teams’ best-of-seven series at 3-3 on Thursday - sweeping to a 115-70 victory in Minneapolis - the winner of tonight’s decider in Denver will clinch a place in the Conference Finals.
Timberwolves vs the Nuggets: start time, how to watch
The Nuggets and the Timberwolves face off at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Viewers in the United States will be able to watch Game 7 on TNT, and can stream the action on the online platform fuboTV, which offers a free trial.
Enjoy the Timberwolves vs the Nuggets live on fuboTV.
Denver boss calls for improvement
Speaking after the Nuggets’ comprehensive defeat in Minnesota three days ago, head coach Michael Malone vowed to work with his team to recapture the form that saw Denver come from 2-0 down to lead the series after Game 5. “We have to go home and get back to playing the way we did when we won three games in a row,” Malone told reporters. “And I have no doubt that we’ll be ready to do that come Sunday.”
Having seen the Timberwolves defence focus its attentions on stopping the Nuggets’ star player Nikola Jokic at Target Center, Malone added that his side needed to do more to capitalise on the spaces that Minnesota’s strategy left open for the Serb’s team-mates.
Noting that the Timberwolves had opted to “double-team” Jokic after his 40-point display in Game 5, Malone said: “We have to do a better job of spacing, reacting and then the bottom line is if they’re going to put two on the ball, we’ve got to make them pay. And we didn’t do that tonight.”
Aiming to reach the NBA’s Conference Finals in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history, the defending champions are chasing the league’s first back-to-back title triumphs since the Golden State Warriors lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2017 and 2018.
What is the Nuggets’ Game 7 record in the NBA Playoffs?
In NBA Playoffs history, the Nuggets have been involved in seven previous series that have gone the distance, winning four of them.
Denver have been victorious in their last two Game 7 match-ups, which both came in the 2020 postseason. They eliminated that Utah Jazz with an 80-78 triumph in the opening round, before seeing off the Los Angeles Clippers 104-89 in the deciding game of the Conference Semi-Finals.
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Who will the Nuggets or the Timberwolves face in the Conference Finals?
The winners of the Timberwolves vs the Nuggets will move on to a Conference Finals clash with the Dallas Mavericks, who eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday. Pursuing a second NBA title in franchise history, the Mavericks sealed a series victory over the Thunder with a 117-116 victory in Texas, despite trailing by 17 points in the third quarter.
The Western Conference Finals are due to begin with Game 1 at the Mavericks’ American Airlines Center on Wednesday May 22. The series is slated to run until Monday June 3 at the latest.