Nikola Jokic put the Denver Nuggets on his back when elimination was one loss away. He finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists as Denver beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-113 at Ball Arena in Colorado to stay alive in the playoffs.
The Nuggets had trailed 3-1 in the series before the game, and defeat would have ended their season. Jokic was the joint top scorer in the game, while Jamal Murray added 24 points in a performance that kept Denver moving all night. Murray said the Nuggets had to play like they were already down 3-1, and added that they kept the pressure on for 48 minutes without letting up. Game six of the best-of-seven series is set for Thursday in Minneapolis.
The result mattered because Denver had lost three straight before breaking through, and it came with the same urgency that usually defines playoff survival games. Jokic, who won the NBA Championship with the Nuggets in 2023, turned a season on the edge into a chance to force the series back again. For Minnesota, the loss put the pressure squarely back on a team that had been in control only days earlier.
Detroit is in a similar hole after Cade Cunningham scored 25 points in the Pistons' 94-88 loss to the Orlando Magic. The Pistons now trail 3-1, leaving top seeds Detroit on the brink of elimination. Orlando, the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, has not reached the second round of the playoffs since 2010, and this win leaves them one step from changing that.
Oklahoma City had no such drama. The Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 131-122 to complete a 4-0 sweep, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 31 points. Gilgeous-Alexander said the team arrived ready and stressed that the Thunder play for each other, with nobody selfish and everybody wanting the next man to succeed. The Western Conference top seeds now move on to face either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Houston Rockets in the second round.
For one night of nba games yesterday, the difference between survival and advance was measured in execution. Denver bought itself one more game, Detroit is one defeat from going out, and Oklahoma City has already moved on.