The Denver Nuggets, led by Serbian Nikola Jokic, were hoping to win the series, but the Minnesota Timberwolves surprised them and knocked them from the NBA playoffs. The series was prolonged, and in the seventh game, momentum shifted in favor of the Minnesota squad.

With Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards leading the way during these playoffs, the T-Wolves overcome a 15-point deficit to win the game 98-90 in the closing minutes. Minnesota is making its first trip back to the conference finals since 2004.

Jokic commends Minnesota

The Nuggets, the previous year’s champions, were extremely disappointed not to advance to the conference finals, as three-time MVP Nikola Jokic acknowledged on social media:

“Yes. I think they’re built to beat us – just look at their roster. They have basically two All-Stars, probably the two All-Defensive First Team players, and Mike Conley, who’s the most underrated player in the NBA probably. I mean, I love the guy. He’s so good, he always makes the right plays even if he didn’t shoot that well in this series. In one moment he was the leading rebounder in the game for them” the Serbian said.

“From the bench, they have the Sixth Player of the Year… They have Kyle [Anderson] and [Nickeil Alexander] Walker who was really good from them, so. They can do literally everything. They can be big, small, so…” he added.

After winning three straight games and rallying from a 0-2 deficit in the series to force a seventh game, the Denver quintet thrilled the crowd. During the team’s postseason, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic were the main references.

The Mavericks, led by Luka Doncic, are a team that the T-Wolves have met 136 times in the regular season and three times in the postseason. In the 2022 conference finals, they faced off against one another; Dallas advanced after taking the series 3-0.