From joy to their catastrophic removal. It was almost like the after-party was starting. After entering the locker room at halftime with a 15-point advantage, the Nuggets quickly increased it to 20. Luka Doncic and Dallas could be seen getting ready to head northwest for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

Then everything collapsed. It appeared as though the reigning champions had finally defeated this annoying, youthful Timberwolves squad. But instead of a decisive victory, Michael Malone’s team was outclassed. Over the course of 12 minutes, Minnesota outscored Denver 32–9, turning a 20–point deficit into a lead.

Furthermore, they accomplished it on the home court of the reigning champions. In this series, they triumphed three times at Ball Arena. Even though star guard Anthony Edwards did not start until the second half, they managed to eliminate any possibility of a recurrence.

In Denver, this one will hurt for a very long time.

Murray flash floods followed by a dry spell. Denver’s opening offensive possession ended in a jamal Murray miss at the rim. He was off target on four of his first five attempts. Next, he lost it. Murray ripped off 24 first-half points and started it with back-to-back 3-pointers that launched a 16-0 Nuggets run between the late first and early second quarters. When Murray hit a tough fadeaway, got fouled in the process and turned and pounded his chest while looking into the crowd, you knew he had fully entered the zone. Equally stunning: A no-look pass to Aaron Gordon, who made a two-handed flush as Denver took the lead. When he scored the first five of the third and ran Denver’s lead to 20, he had 29 on the night.

After that, it dried up. It was not until the middle of the fourth quarter that he scored again, as Minnesota stormed back into the lead. Murray scored 35 in the end, but Edwards assisted in cutting off his flow as the Timberwolves began to play spoiler.

3-point woes. As the Timberwolves began to chip into a 20-point deficit, the Nuggets just kept putting up shots from beyond the arc. They’ll go down eventually, right? Correct? Correct? False. in style that defines a season. Only four of Denver’s twelve shots were made in the first half. In the third quarter, they missed 9 of 10. In the fourth quarter, the bricks just kept coming. By the time they trailed by 10 with 2:30 remaining, Denver was 8 of 30 from beyond the arc. Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combined to go 4 of 20 from deep.