The Timberwolves overcome an early deficit to oust the defending champion nuggets (98–90) the Dallas Mavericks came from behind to nip the Oklahoma Thunders (117–116) while the Indiana Pacers made easy work out of a hobbling New York Knicks (130–109)
And so after some nail biting moments and many incredulous comebacks we now have the full cast of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, who after triumphing over their opponents will then square off for the NBA Championship.
We will start first with the latest and most intriguing end results which is in the Western Conference Finals.
The NBA Championship will not be defended this year as the champion team with the reigning MVP in it, got ousted by an upcoming team that seems to have no respect for a timeline.
We are talking of course of the Denver Nuggets who have shown us resiliency and the ability to come from the grave and defend their home turf.
However, in the end a young squad built around Anthony Edwards (Ants), at just 22 years of age came up with a formula to shut down the vaunted Nuggets offense with a scampering defense. This character build-up is more astonishing in the face of the opposition of the Nuggets who were expected to teach the Timberwolves young squad a lesson or two.
The icing in the cake is that the Defensive player of the Year in Rudy Gobert scored 8 of his crucial 13 points in the pivotal 4th quarter to help his team aside from his pressing defense of Nikola Jokic overcome an explosive duo.
To remember, this was the same Gobert who looked inutile all night long for Game 6 where they were trounced and time and again shown to be unsure of themselves to be in the same stage as the defending champions.
In the end, even if Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 69 points, the champions were the ones who came up short as other Nuggets did not count for much in this most crucial time.
It did not seem that way at the first half as the Nuggets built up 15-point leads at the half which looked unsurmountable as the Timberwolves offense is not clicking at all.
Then the comeback started, spearheaded by Karl Anthony Towns as Edwards is frustrated time and again by double teams that made the Timberwolves offense left in shambles.
Thus, it all boiled down to team effort with Edwards relegating himself to shots when he is open and not forcing it, passing to open team mates as much as possible being a decoy for the Nuggets defense his three pointers gave separation to the fast-charging Nuggets. Towns tallied 23 points and 12 rebounds, Edwards 16 points 8 rebounds and 7 assist and Jaden Mcdaniels chipped in 21 points.
The Timberwolves will be backed in the Conference final after 20 years and will go head-to-head with the surprising Mavericks who also came from behind to nip the Oklahoma Thunders 117 – 116.
This game indeed came down literally down the wire as the Mavericks came up with a furious rally to win by a point in the final seconds of the game 6 to end the series 4-2.
And the finish is not without controversy.
Up by one point, Shai Gilgeous Alexander was called for a shooting foul on a three by PJ Washington at 2.5 seconds left.
With a challenge, the call was upheld and Washington made two free throws and deliberately missed the third so as not to afford the Thunders with a chance to call a time out and map out an offensive sequence.
Dallas was 17 points down when they made their come back behind the triple double of Luka Doncic (29 points 10 rebounds and 10 assists) the 22 points of Kyrie Irving and Derricks Jones. Dallas was 47% in three- point territory hitting 16 out of 34 tries.
Shai Gilgeous Alexander was a monster with his 36 points ably supported by Jalen Williams 22 and Chet Holmgren’s 21.
Unfortunately, these were not enough as they shot only 37% from the three-point territory and were overpowered in the rebounding department this game 47 to 31) as well as the whole series (271 to 243)
The question of what if’s will nag the whole Thunder squad and their coach. What if they let go the challenge and let Washington take the free throws? If he makes all three shots, then Dallas is up by two but they can take a time-out and make a final offense at 2.5 seconds. But again, those are all water under the bridge.
Just like the what happened to the magical Cinderella like appearance of New York in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. After 20 years, the 7th game was played at the august and venerable Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks performance however did not live up to the hype as they rolled over versus the Indiana Pacers, unable to keep up with the younger and hungrier squad.
The Pacers shot a record shattering 67.1 % from the field and steam rolled over New York 130 – 109 who were further decimated by injuries. Jalen Brunson left at the half with a broken left hand after scoring 17 points and 9 assists. Donte DiVincenzo exploded for 39 points ably supported by Alec Burks with 26but to no avail.
The Pacers cannot be denied and will go up versus the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
