NBA Playoffs: The Nuggets and Knicks won important victories and moved closer to the conference finals
Denver NuggetsWith Nikola Jokic dominated the night he won the regular season MVP award, and New York Knickswith another notable performance Jalen Brunsonwon decisive victories over Minnesota Timberwolves And Indiana Pacersrespectively, and took a 3–2 lead in the conference semifinal series in the playoffs NBA.
4:33
Jokic activated MVP mode and Denver beat the Timberwolves in the playoffs!
In the fifth game of the series, the Serbian scored 40 points, 13 assists and 7 rebounds in a 112–97 victory. Aaron Gordon scored 18 goals to make it 3-2 for the Nuggets. Towns led the fall with 23 points.
Serbian Nikola Jokic looked his strongest version on Tuesday and torched the Minnesota Timberwolves with 40 points and 13 assists, giving the Denver Nuggets a 112-97 home win that leaves them one win away from the Western Conference finals..
As NBA commissioner Adam Silver looked on, the defending champions defeated the Wolves for the third time in a row after losing the first two games of this second-round series.
The two wins, also at home, excited the Wolves, but the Nuggets responded harshly.
Jokic received the MVP award from Silver and had 40 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists with no turnovers. He became the second player capable of putting up numbers at that level in the playoffs after Chris Paul.
He was the protagonist of several standout plays, including a treble against Frenchman Rudy Gobert’s defense that left the crowd speechless.
Aaron Gordon backed him up with a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jamal Murray each scored 16 points and Christian Braun scored 10 points.
The Nuggets shot 55% from the field and 47% from three, which was too much for the Wolves to avoid defeat.
Dominican Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota in scoring with 23 points, while Anthony Edwards scored 18 and added 9 assists. Mike Conley is out for the Wolves with Achilles tendon discomfort.
2:06
Magical night for Brunson and the Knicks’ win over the Pacers!
With 44 points and 7 assists from the point guard, New York beat Indiana 121-91 to take a 3-2 series lead. In addition, Burks (18) and Hart (18) scored. Siakam led the fall with 22 points.
Jalen Brunson recorded his fifth playoff game with over 40 points on Tuesday and led the New York Knicks’ 121-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers with 44, leaving the New Yorkers one win away from exiting to the Eastern Conference finals..
The home team defends their home field in this series, with the Knicks winning three games played at Madison Square Garden and the Pacers laying down their law at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Knicks, despite losing Julius Randle, O.G. Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, led by the unstoppable Brunson, dominated the Pacers from start to finish.
In 43 minutes on the court, the point guard scored 44 points (18 out of 35 from the field), made 4 rebounds and gave 7 assists.
He was supported by Isaiah Hartenstein, who was dominant in the paint and grabbed 17 rebounds, 12 of them offensive. He left the court in the fourth period, with the game already decided, to applause from the Madison Square Garden crowd.
Josh Hart had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Miles McBride scored 17 points for Tom Thibodeau’s team, which had a 31-point lead.
The Pacers, who made a dominant showing in Game 4, were completely outplayed in New York and now return to Indiana with their backs against the wall.
Pascal Siakam was the leading scorer with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Tyrese Haliburton had 13 points and 5 assists.