Denver Nuggets Finish Off Minnesota Timberwolves

DENVER -- It wasn't the prettiest of victories, but there aren't any style points in the playoffs. The only thing that matters are wins, and that's what the top-seeded Denver Nuggets walked away with Tuesday night.

After falling behind by as many as 15 points, their largest deficit of the Western Conference first-round series, the Nuggets slowly chipped away and held off the eighth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves late for a 112-109 victory in Game 5.

Denver won the series 4-1 to advance to the conference semifinals, where it will take on the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns, who knocked off the LA Clippers in Game 5 on Tuesday night. The Nuggets-Suns series starts on Saturday at Ball Arena.

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"To win a series, I don't care 8-seed, 1-seed, all that other B.S. -- to win a series in the playoffs is hard," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "So I'm really proud of our guys."

Malone said the team played the first quarter like it was a regular-season game, but he credited Jamal Murray for getting things going. "I felt Jamal made a couple of shots, and Jamal plays with so much emotion, and I think he got our team going,"

Malone said. "And guys off the bench got our team going, and then the crowd got really into it, which is what we need."

Murray finished with 35 points, marking his seventh 35-point playoff game. In Nuggets playoff history, only Nikola Jokic (nine) has more.

Jokic became the fifth player in NBA history to have 25-15-10 in a clinching opportunity, joining LeBron James (2020), James Worthy (1988), Chamberlain (1967) and Oscar Robertson (1963), according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Follow the NBA Playoffs here on ESPN 102.3/AM 1000 KSOO.

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Source: Denver Nuggets Finish Off Minnesota Timberwolves

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