Jokic has triple-double, Nuggets beat Timberwolves for 3-0 lead

MINNEAPOLIS(AP) — Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets delivered the type ofdisciplined performance that’s a prerequisite for lasting a longtime in theNBA playoffs.

TheMinnesota Timberwolves sure aren’t there yet.

Jokic hadhis seventh career triple-double in the playoffs with 20 points, 11rebounds and 12 assists and the Nuggets beat the Timberwolves120-111 on Friday night to take a 3-0 lead in the first-roundseries.

“We didn’twant to give them life,” said Jokic, the two-time reigning NBA MVPwho led the league with 29 triple-doubles this season. “We wantedto be the aggressor. We wanted to punch them first.”

MichaelPorter Jr. had 25 points and nine rebounds and Jamal Murray added18 points and nine assists as Denver withstood another dashing gameby Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards to send a loud crowd ofwhite-shirt-wearing fans home from another frustrating postseasonloss.

“Proud ofthe group,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. “They handled theirbusiness like they’re supposed to, like mature teams do.”

Edwardsscored 36 points to raise his series total to 95, Karl-AnthonyTowns had 27 points after totaling only 21 points over the firsttwo games and Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 10 rebounds for theWolves, but a defensive lapse here and a rushed 3-pointer there wasenough to seal their fate against this Nuggets team finally healthyenough for another run at the NBA finals.

“Ourdecision-making on offense just kind of let us down,” coach ChrisFinch said.

Bruce Brownhad 12 points to lead Denver’s 29-10 edge in bench points, and theNuggets shot a hard-to-beat 57% from the field.

Game 4 ishere Sunday.

“Nodisrespect to the T-wolves, this is about us, but we don’t want togo back to Denver,” Malone said.

With theNuggets holding their first2-0leadin nine playoff series under Malone,theirmessage from thecoachwas to keep the throttle on full and not give theunderdog Wolves extra confidence.

TheWesternConference’s top team shot like its seeding depended on it andoutjumped the Wolves for just about every long rebound. The Nuggetshad two 9-0 runs in the first half and started the second quarterby making 12 of their first 16 shots on their way to a 13-pointlead.

Edwards,who had 41 points in Game 2 for the franchise playoffs record,single-handedlybrought the Wolvesbackwith the kind of starburst only players like him arecapable of.

After a badpass by Towns was picked off by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Edwardshustled for the block and quickly converted a Euro-step layup onthe other end. The Wolves kept up the momentum and cut the lead to61-55 right before halftime. They were still within six points atthe end of the third quarter.

TheWolveswontheir play-in gamehere a week ago on the backs of Townsand Gobert, the unlikely big-man pairing they created when formerNuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly bolted forthe same job in Minnesota and swung a blockbuster trade forGobert.

The Wolvesattacked the basket better than they did in the first two games,and Towns drew Jokic’s fourth foul with 5:51 left in the thirdquarter, but the 7-foot Serb is just too skilled — and too much ofa load — to get beat that way.

“Theoffense looks a little different when ‘Joke’ isn’t out there, butwe’ve been making it work,” Porter said. “We’ve just got a lot ofdudes who can do a lot of different things.”

SCREENSHOT

Finch,asked before the game about Jokic’s impact on making space forMurray and his shot, took a subtle swipe at how he feels Jokic —who has 14 fouls in the series — is officiated.

“He does areally good job of screening, and moving and screening at the sametime, those types of things,” Finch said in his best deadpan.

Gobert madelight at his introductory news conference last summer of Finch’sallegations of his illegal screening with Utah.

TIP-INS

Nuggets:Caldwell-Pope had 11 of his 14 points in the second quarter. ...Murray, who went 10 for 20 from deep in the first two games, was 1for 6.

Timberwolves: Towns, who shot 8 for 27 from the field in the firsttwo games, went 10 for 17. He’s 5 for 16 from 3-point range in theseries.