Elevated into the starting lineup of a heavily depleted backcourt, Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a career-playoff-high 24 points to help the Minnesota Timberwolves close out the Denver Nuggets 110-98 in Game 6 of a first-round playoff series on Thursday in Minneapolis.
The sixth-seeded Timberwolves advance to face the second-seeded Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals, with Game 1 scheduled for Monday in San Antonio.
Minnesota was already down All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards (knee) and his starting perimeter counterpart, Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles), when Ayo Dosunmu was announced as a scratch shortly before tipoff of Game 6. Dosunmu, a hero in Game 4 with 43 points, was held out on Thursday due to a calf injury.
Veteran Kyle Anderson was also crossed off the Minnesota lineup on Thursday because of an illness, contributing to a rash of absences that necessitated Shannon — who did not play in the first three games of the series — entering the starting lineup.
He stepped up, capping his 9-of-20 performance shooting from the field with a crucial three-point play that ignited a game-ending 8-1 run for the Timberwolves.
With Minnesota nursing a 100-97 lead, Shannon penetrated into the lane and scored against contact from Jamal Murray with a scooping layup. He made the subsequent free throw with 1:43 to go.
After Cameron Johnson split a pair of free throws on the other end, Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels — who scored a game-high 32 points — connected on a pull-up mid-range jumper.
McDaniels’ shot served as a backbreaker for third-seeded Denver, with the crowd erupting as the Timberwolves opened up an eight-point lead with 1:07 left. The bucket put an exclamation mark on a dominant final five minutes in which the Timberwolves did not allow the Nuggets a made field goal.
Denver trailed much of the way and never led in the second half but remained within a single-digit-point margin until the final minute. Nikola Jokic helped keep the Nuggets within striking distance, finishing with team highs in points (28), assists (10) and rebounds (nine).
Johnson added 27 points and shot 5-of-10 from 3-point range, but the Nuggets struggled to find consistent offense elsewhere. Murray was limited to 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the floor.
The same aggressive Minnesota defense that kept Murray in check frustrated Jokic in the second half, boiling over when he got into a shoving match with Timberwolves reserve guard Jaylen Clark early in the fourth quarter. Naz Reid pushed Jokic from behind, resulting in all three players receiving technical fouls.
Jokic remained in the lineup despite a chorus of “kick him out” chants from the home crowd.
