Jokic and Nuggets bring Wolves to heel

Nikola Jokic received The Michael Jordan Trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver before tip-off, then delivered a memorable playoff performance to celebrate his third MVP award Tuesday night.

Jokic scored 40 points and dished out 13 assists, as the Denver Nuggets shut down Anthony Edwards in a 112-97 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. It puts the reigning NBA champs one win away from the Western Conference finals.

Jokic also had seven rebounds with no turnovers, as the home team won for the first time in this semifinal series.

"He did everything for us tonight," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "And it was fun to watch."

Jokic's domination even had his opponents smiling.

"I just laugh. That's all I can do," Edwards said of watching Jokic go off for 16 points and assist on four other baskets in the third quarter, as the Nuggets seized control to post yet another rout.

"I can't be mad," Edwards said. "He's good, man. I think I said that after Game 1 when we won, and Game 2. He's the MVP. He's the best player in NBA. He showed it in the last three games in a row. He was special tonight. I've got to give him his flowers. He was that guy tonight."

Aaron Gordon added 18 points and 10 boards, and Jamal Murray scored 16, saying that, when Jokic has it going, there's no need for anyone else to try to be the hero.

"If Jokic's scoring like that, there's no need to do anything special," Murray said.

Trapped and doubled all night, Edwards was held to 18 points from 5 of 15 shots. Karl Anthony-Towns led the Wolves with 23 points and Rudy Gobert scored 18.

"I think we did a great job, not just on (Edwards) but everybody," Murray said.

With their first three-game losing streak of the season, the Wolves will have to stop the slide Thursday night at Target Center to force a Game 7 back in Denver.

Jokic scored 19 first-half points, leading Denver to a 50-44 advantage at the half. He added 16 points in the third quarter when the Nuggets pushed their lead to 14.

After the Wolves inched ahead 55-53 early in the third quarter, Jokic assisted on four consecutive baskets during Denver's 11-2 response for a 64-57 lead that would stand the rest of the way.

Jokic's dunk with 7:12 left on the clock in the fourth gave Denver a 98-80 lead.

After the Wolves used a mini-run to pull it back to 103-92, Jokic nailed a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer over a helpless Gobert, who recently won his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, to make it a 14-point lead with just over 3 minutes left.

Edwards averaged 33.3 points in the first four games of the series, and the Wolves were looking for somebody else to step up. Although KAT did just that, Edwards missed eight of his first nine shots, had five points at halftime and didn't find his shooting touch until the game had gotten away from the Wolves.

Minnesota's veteran point guard Mike Conley was scratched just before tip-off with a sore right Achilles. He was injured when he missed a 3-pointer on the Wolves' final possession in their loss on Sunday.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker started in his spot and had 14 points and five assists.

In his pre-game comments, Wolves coach Chris Finch also expressed dismay at the NBA fining Rudy Gobert $75,000 for making a money gesture following a call by referee Scott Foster in Game 4.

Agencies via Xinhua