Ayo Dosunmu scored a career-high 43 points off the bench Saturday night, and the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets 112-96 with Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo ruled out. Dosunmu did it with pace and precision, finishing 13 of 17 from the field, 5 of 5 from 3-point range and 12 of 12 at the line.
The game turned long before the final buzzer. Minnesota got 36 of its 50 bench points from Dosunmu, and he scored 27 of his 43 after halftime. That burst carried the Timberwolves past Denver and pushed Dosunmu into a small place in team history as the third Minnesota player to score 40 or more in a playoff game, joining Edwards and Sam Cassell.
Denver had enough early offense to stay close for a half. Jokić and Murray combined to shoot 12 for 23 with 11 assists in the first half, and the Nuggets reached halftime with 24 made field goals, 18 assists and 54 points. But the second half belonged almost entirely to Minnesota, and the numbers on Denver's side fell apart quickly.
The Nuggets shot 9 of 37 from the field after halftime and finished with just 3 assists in the second half, all of them coming from Jokić and Murray. Those two also shot 6 of 24 after the break, a collapse that left Denver staring down elimination as Minnesota controlled the game end to end. Dosunmu's night did more than fill a box score. It changed the shape of the series.
