NBA play-offs

The dream is over! Defending champion Denver failed

The Denver Nuggets had to cope with their early exit.(Bild: AP/Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The Denver Nuggets have to write off their defense of the NBA title. Nikola Jokic and Co. lost the deciding game in the "best of seven" against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on Sunday (local time) by 90:98 and thus the series by 3:4. 

The Wolves will face the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference final. In the East, the Indiana Pacers followed the Boston Celtics into the semi-finals. The Pacers won the seventh game against the New York Knicks 130-109 away from home.

For the Nuggets, the series ended as it had begun. The champions had to concede defeat in the first two games against the Timberwolves in their home arena. Denver was on course for a long time, leading by 20 points at the start of the third quarter. But then the thread snapped. Even 34 points and 19 rebounds from Jokic, who had recently been voted the league's most valuable player (MVP) for the third time, did not help.

For the first time in ten years
Anthony Edwards did not have his best evening for Minnesota with just 16 points, but was given sufficient support by his team-mates. Jaden McDaniels and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 23 points. The Timberwolves were too good for the defending champions in the final quarter, especially in defense. Jokic played 47 of 48 minutes and was visibly tired at the end. "Even when we were behind, our defense was always there. And then in the third quarter we just ran hot," said Minnesota's coach Chris Finch. The first two games between the Mavericks and the Timberwolves will be played in Minneapolis, with game one scheduled for Wednesday (local time).

The Pacers are back in the Conference Finals for the first time in ten years. They will face the Celtics in game one in Boston on Tuesday. The decimated Knicks conceded 39 points in the first quarter. In the final period, the New Yorkers also had to do without Jalen Brunson, who was diagnosed with a fracture in his left hand. He had only scored 17 points up to that point and was unable to build on his top performances. Tyrese Haliburton impressed with 26 points for the strong Pacers. In the end, the visitors had a successful shooting percentage of 67.1 percent from the field - a record in the play-offs.