Timberwolves Eliminate Nuggets in Six Games as Knicks Rout Hawks and 76ers Force Game 7 vs Celtics

The Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series, securing a 110-98 victory on Thursday night. added 24 points.

Despite the loss, Nikola Jokić tallied 28 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Nuggets. Rudy Gobert neutralized Jokić throughout the series, limiting Denver's effectiveness.

Jamal Murray struggled, shooting 4 for 17 from the floor with a minus-18 rating across the series; he had played in 75 regular-season games. The Nuggets were ousted in six games, failing to advance to May in the playoffs for the first time in four years. Three years earlier, in 2023, Jokić had led Denver to the NBA championship.

He defended coach David Adelman, saying, "It’s not his fault we couldn’t rebound. It’s not his fault we couldn’t catch the ball very well. There is nothing to blame David Adelman.

6 seed in the Western Conference, overcame injuries to their top three guards in Game 6. They will start the second round at San Antonio on Monday.

In the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks defeated the Atlanta Hawks 140-89 in Game 6 on April 30, winning the series in six games. OG Anunoby scored 29 points in just 27 minutes, and Karl-Anthony Towns recorded his second triple-double of the series.

The victory marked the Knicks' biggest playoff win in franchise history and tied for the sixth-largest margin of victory in NBA postseason history at 51 points.

New York built a commanding lead early, up 40-15 after the first quarter—the largest of the shot clock era. By halftime, the Knicks held a 47-point advantage, the biggest in playoff history. They won three straight games after falling to 1-2 in the series, with Towns stating, "It speaks volumes on our team that we were able to bounce back from two disappointing losses.

Tensions flared when Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and Knicks center Mitchell Robinson were ejected after fighting, following free throws that gave New York a 50-point lead in the second quarter. The Knicks surpassed 100 points with 8:21 left in the third quarter, and their starters finished playing with 2:45 remaining in that period.

New York will face the winner of the Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers series in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Tyrese Maxey led with 30 points, Paul George added 23, and Joel Embiid scored 19 after returning early from an appendectomy. The 76ers never trailed, entering the fourth quarter with an 82-63 lead after Boston went more than four minutes without scoring to end the third.

Jayson Tatum, who missed most of the season with a ruptured Achilles, scored 17 points but briefly left in the third quarter for treatment of an apparent calf injury. The 76ers had lost two games by 32 points each earlier in the series; the only team in NBA history to win a series after dropping two by 30-plus points was the 1959 Minneapolis Lakers against the St.

Louis Hawks.