Sunday's NBA playoff takeaways: Pacers, Timberwolves advance (2024)

By Eric Nehm, Fred Katz, Jon Krawczynski, Tony Jones and Hunter Patterson

The Minnesota Timberwolves overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat the Denver Nuggets 98-90 in Game 7 and advance to the Western Conference finals. It was the biggest comeback in Game 7 history.

Karl-Anthony Towns posted a team-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Jaden McDaniels added 23 points and six rebounds. Anthony Edwards finished with 16 points on 6-of-24 shooting but set the tone for the Timberwolves in the second half.

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Minnesota returns to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2003-04 and will face the Dallas Mavericks.

“It was tough, man. I couldn’t find myself, my rhythm tonight,” Edwards told TNT after the game. “So I just had to trust my teammates. They kept trapping me even though my rhythm was off. So I just had to make the right play throughout the rest of the game. And I did that and my teammates made shots.

“You know, it’s more ways to win a basketball game when you’re just not an offensive player. I’m not one-dimensional. I’m not just a guy who can score. I’m a guy (who can lock down) whoever their best guard is. I feel like I did that on Jamal (Murray) in the third quarter and fourth quarter. And that’s what turned the game around.”

The Timberwolves came out swinging in the third 💪
Minnesota went on a 19-3 run and are down by only four points after being down by as many as 20.
🎥 @Timberwolves pic.twitter.com/h2kl0R3yKS
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 20, 2024

Earlier Sunday, the Indiana Pacers got off to a blistering start in their Game 7, scoring 70 points on 76.3 percent shooting in the first half en route to a 130-109 win over the New York Knicks to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Pacers’ 67.1 overall field-goal percentage is the highest ever in an NBA playoff game. Indiana will appear in the conference finals for the first time since 2014.

Tyrese Haliburton (26), Pascal Siakam (20) and Andrew Nembhard (20) combined for 66 of the Pacers’ 130.

Timberwolves 98, Nuggets 90

Minnesota wins series 4-3

A Minnesota comeback for the ages

This was the greatest victory in Timberwolves history.

Down by as many as 20 to the defending champions. On the road. Do or die. Minnesota did it.

They exorcized 20 years of demons, dysfunction and disappointment with a hellacious second-half charge to beat the Nuggets and advance to their second Western Conference finals.

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A 28-14 third quarter preceded a fourth quarter filled with haymakers. The Wolves have shown toughness all season long, but this was on another level entirely. The contributions came from everywhere. Towns put the offense on his shoulders while the rest of his teammates couldn’t buy a bucket.

McDaniels with another sterling night on both ends. He was 7 of 10 from the field.

Rudy Gobert shook off an awful first half to dominate the second half, including an incredible turnaround jump shot to beat the shot clock in the fourth quarter.

Naz Reid blocked Nikola Jokić twice in the fourth and had a massive putback dunk. Edwards shook off a 1 of 9 start from beyond the arc to hit a corner 3 that put the Wolves up 10 with three minutes to play.

It was so intense that Chris Finch stood on the sideline for the final three minutes, not letting the torn patellar tendon in his knee keep him from being in the mix.

In a fitting end, Towns iced the game with a putback slam.

Throughout the fourth quarter, a legion of Timberwolves took over Ball Arena with “Let’s go Wolves!” chants. The champs are done. And the Timberwolves look every bit like a team that can go all the way. — Jon Krawczynski, Timberwolves beat writer

GO DEEPERTimberwolves, and their bigs, get last laugh against defending champs

Will Denver make it back atop the mountain?

This is why the regular season matters.

The Nuggets had a chance to be the top-seeded team in the Western Conference with a win over the San Antonio Spurs in the 81st game of the season, and they weren’t able to get a win over one of the worst teams in the league. It allowed the Oklahoma City Thunder to secure the No. 1 spot.

It dropped the Nuggets to No. 2 and set the scene for a matchup in the second round with the Timberwolves.

After Sunday night’s loss, the innocuous becomes big. The minuscule becomes gargantuan. Behind the scenes, those connected to Denver worried about the Wolves, and their size and ability to throw lots of bodies at Jokić.

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And now that a title defense is no more, we all know that worry was well founded.

The Nuggets led by as many as 20 points in the second half. They were dominant, and they were on their way to the Western Conference finals. But now, abruptly, their season ends and they are left to wonder what went wrong and where it went off the rails.

Picking up the pieces won’t be easy for Denver, and the Timberwolves have an excellent chance to ascend to the throne the Nuggets vacated on Sunday night.

And now, Denver will have to figure out how to get back to the top of the mountain. — Tony Jones, NBA writer

GO DEEPER'Built to beat us': Denver's quest for repeat ends in surprising fashion

Pacers 130, Knicks 109

Indiana wins series 4-3

Pacers meet the moment in Game 7

All postseason long, opponents have waited for the moment to be too big for the Pacers and every time they have faced another big moment, they answered the call and played their brand of basketball.

On Sunday, the Pacers entered Madison Square Garden and dropped a 39-point first quarter, the most of any team in the first quarter of a Game 7. Haliburton did his best impression of Pacers legend Reggie Miller, knocking down four 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes and talking trash to Knicks fans sitting courtside after each shot.

By the end of the first half, the Pacers had not only shot 76.3 percent from the field but also 66.6 percent from the 3-point line.

GO DEEPERTyrese Haliburton, Pacers stay true to themselves to set up matchup with Boston

When New York quickly cut Indiana’s lead to single digits to open the third quarter, Haliburton was there for the answer.

First, he hit a 3-pointer to push the lead back to double digits. Then, he dished a tough pass to Myles Turner for a 3-pointer on the right wing and followed it up with a steal and a layup to increase the lead to 12 points. After Haliburton answered the call, his teammates followed his lead.

Nembhard knocked down clutch buckets. Aaron Nesmith scored 11 third-quarter points. T.J. McConnell brought his trademark energy to the proceedings to help the Pacers take a 17-point lead entering the fourth quarter, which the Knicks were forced to play without Brunson.

5 points in 5 seconds 😈
the no-look pass from Tyrese Haliburton.
the steal by T.J. McConnell.
the and-1 by Aaron Nesmith. pic.twitter.com/pTo70Zriw9
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 19, 2024

By the end of that quarter, the Knicks were too battered to field anything resembling their regular-season roster and the Pacers were running past them on their way to a date with Boston. — Eric Nehm, NBA writer

Knicks fall short as injuries piled on

The Knicks ended their season with zero players from their opening-day lineup on the court.

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Quentin Grimes was in Detroit. RJ Barrett was in Toronto. His replacement, OG Anunoby was on the bench, nursing a hamstring injury. Mitchell Robinson was recovering from ankle surgery. Julius Randle sat in street clothes, as well, after undergoing surgery on his shoulder in the spring.

Brunson was in the locker room, getting treatment on a freshly fractured left hand, which he injured at some point during the second half of their season-ending loss.

The Knicks’ identity all season was steeped in their tryhard, the relentlessness anyone in Madison Square Garden could have recognized. The remaining crowd stood on its feet when the regulars checked out of the game.

Josh Hart received chants of his name and a standing ovation when he fouled out. Alec Burks, Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein inspired passionate cheers, too, which led to “Let’s go Knicks” hollers. Those in attendance understood reality.

Josh Hart gets a standing ovation after playing BIG minutes all postseason 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ikS1EkPY1O
— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2024

These were not the Knicks who lost. They were what was left of the Knicks, and the Pacers never let go. — Fred Katz, Knicks beat writer

Schedule

Tuesday: Indiana Pacers at Boston Celtics, 8 p.m. (ET), ESPN
Wednesday: Dallas Mavericks at Timberwolves, 8:30 pm. (ET), TNT

Required reading

Pacers earn their moment in the sun after blasting Knicks in historic Game 7
Knicks will search for next great player but don’t want to disrupt their culture
KAT, Timberwolves have arrived! No more pretending, no more being the laughingstock
Celtics-Pacers preview: Jayson Tatum vs. Tyrese Haliburton and keys to Eastern Conference finals

(Photo: C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)