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No free throws, no problem for NIkola Jokic as Denver Nuggets put Timberwolves on brink of elimination

MINNEAPOLIS • The gestures said it all.

After Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets to a 120-111 win over Minnesota with a 20-point, 11-rebound, 12-assist triple-double, Denver coach Michael Malone made a circle with his right hand and placed it over his eye, signifying the number of free throws Nikola Jokic needed to record the seventh playoff triple-double of his career.

“It was an outstanding effort all the way around. Nikola had his seventh career playoff triple-double, and what’s even more outstanding about that … (is he did it) with zero free throw attempts. Zero,” Malone said postgame.

“Nikola’s greatness was on full display.”

The back-to-back Most Valuable Player helped the Nuggets hold on while the Timberwolves used the momentum provided by the home crowd to get off to a hot start. After Jokic scored the game’s opening bucket with a baby hook over Rudy Gobert, the Timberwolves scored 10 of the next 12 points, forcing Malone into an early timeout. The Timberwolves took their biggest lead of the game, seven points, a few minutes later before Jokic dished out the first of his assists. Jokic’s 11 first-quarter points helped the Nuggets start the second tied with the Timberwolves. He didn’t score in the second quarter but dished out four more assists, helping the Nuggets lead by six at halftime.

“We needed to win, I think. We didn’t want to give them life, if that makes any sense. We wanted to be the aggressor. We wanted to punch them first. They needed to react to us, that was our plan, and I think we did a good job. Of course, we expected them to be aggressive and play really good,” Jokic said.

“They were attacking the paint. They had the 35 free throw attempts. They were just attacking, attacking, and that was their plan. We kind of knew it.”

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Minnesota hung tight throughout much of the second half when Jokic started gesturing. After a physical possession inside, Jokic ran back down the court slapping his arms and midsection in an attempt to draw attention to what he believed was a foul. He said he left it at that.

“If something is obvious, I just like to say it’s obvious,” Jokic said.

The Nuggets won and moved within a game of the second round despite Jokic becoming one of a handful of NBA players to record a postseason triple-double without attempting a free throw. The Timberwolves as a whole took 35 free throws to Denver’s 13. Six of the Nuggets’ free throws came in the final five minutes.

Jokic credited Minnesota’s number of free throws to their aggressive approach. He expects the same showing Sunday with the Timberwolves on the brink of elimination. While a few free throws might help, Jokic seems pretty comfortable with the way things stand heading into Sunday’s Game 4.

“Same as today. They’re going to go aggressive. We need to be more aggressive. We need to dictate the game. We know what to do, so it’s not pressure on us to win the game,” Jokic said.

“We know what to do, and we’re going to do that.”

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