Timberwolves devour Nuggets for 2-0 lead

NEW YORK – The Minnesota Timberwolves produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory on Monday (Tuesday Manila time).

The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday (Saturday in Manila).

Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota's suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off.

The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to the Nuggets, who posted just six steals and five blocks.

Remarkably, Minnesota's dominance was achieved without Rudy Gobert, the Frenchman who is one of the defensive pillars of the Timberwolves line-up.

Gobert skipped the game in order to be with his partner after the birth of the couple's son earlier Monday.

"When you don't got the defensive player of the year, you got to step your game up," Towns said afterwards.

"We all understood the challenge coming in against the defending champions, a really good team, with some of the best players the game's ever seen.

"We just wanted to come here and find a way to win the game."

The normally unflappable Nuggets may also be without star point guard Jamal Murray for Game 3.

Murray was caught on camera hurling a heat pack onto the court in the second quarter, raising the possibility of a suspension when the incident is reviewed by NBA disciplinary chiefs.

That incident was emblematic of the Nuggets' woes in a game that saw Minnesota in control after they surged into a 28-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.

A disastrous second quarter for Denver saw them outscored 33-15 by Minneapolis, leaving the Timberwolves leading 61-35 at half-time.

Minnesota's iron-clad defense never looked like surrendering that advantage in the second half and the visitors raced into a 32-point lead early in the third quarter to leave Denver's Ball Arena in stunned silence.

Denver coach Michael Malone admitted: "We just got beat up in our building and we got embarrassed in front of our fans.

"The good thing is we're not playing until Friday, so we have a chance to get away and think about what we want to do moving forward," added Malone.

"I'm not worried about anything other than trying to win Game 3."