#Deadspin #Undermanned #Wolves #eliminate #balanced #Nuggets #Game">Deadspin | Undermanned Wolves try to eliminate balanced Nuggets in Game 6
Apr 23, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) goes to the basket past Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the fourth quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Faced with key injuries, the Minnesota Timberwolves will try to close out their Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 on Thursday in Minneapolis.
Minnesota successfully managed Game 4 despite losing star Anthony Edwards and his starting backcourt mate, Donte DiVincenzo, early. But with Edwards sidelined due to a bone bruise and hyperextension in his left knee and DiVincenzo gone with a torn right Achilles tendon, the Timberwolves dropped a close-out opportunity on Monday in Denver, 125-113.
Edwards and DiVincenzo were both catalysts as Minnesota gained the early advantage in the series, with Edwards going for 30 points and 10 rebounds in Game 2. DiVincenzo scored a total of 31 points in Games 2 and 3, both Timberwolves victories.
With the two perimeter playmakers out Monday, Minnesota committed 25 turnovers — two more than the Timberwolves lost in their previous two games combined, and a team-high dating back to before the All-Star break.
“A lot of silly, forced play by guys trying to make something out of nothing,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said of the Game 5 turnover woes.
Finch also pointed to Denver’s defensive adjustments, noting that the Nuggets “put two (defenders)” on Ayo Dosunmu for the first time in the series.
Dosunmu, a late-season acquisition via trade from Chicago, emerged as the hero in Game 4 after Edwards and DiVincenzo exited. He scored 43 points, bookended by performances of 25 and 18 points, respectively, in Games 3 and 5.
Aside from Julius Randle’s 27 points, however, no other Minnesota player managed more than 13 in Monday’s loss.
Denver, meanwhile, got 18-plus points from four of its five starters in the elimination contest. Among the quartet was forward Spencer Jones, who has seen a significant uptick in minutes with Aaron Gordon dealing with a calf injury.
Jones, who scored 11 total points in the series’ first four games, went for 20 in Game 5. Gordon, who averaged 16.2 points per game in the regular season, played limited minutes in Game 4, but missed both Games 3 and 5 and is listed as questionable for Thursday.
Jones, who averaged just 5.5 points per game in the regular season, delivered his highest-scoring performance since Dec. 1 (28 points) at an opportune time.
“It’s something that happened throughout the season, guys going down and me getting an opportunity to start,” Jones said. “I’ll get more minutes, but the role is still the same, the duties are still the same.”
Building on the momentum from his making four 3-pointers Monday, Jones could play a role in Denver’s key perimeter scorer, Jamal Murray, finding cleaner looks from beyond the arc.
Murray has scored 30 points three times in the series, and with his 24 in Game 5, he is up to 26.0 points per game through the five contests. That’s a team-high, outpacing three-time league Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic’s 25.4 ppg.
However, Murray has gone 0-for from deep twice, including the Game 3 loss.
Jokic, meanwhile, had his best game of the series Monday, finishing as a plus-18 with 27 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds. He was a plus-one, minus-21 and minus-12 in Denver’s three losses.
#Deadspin #Undermanned #Wolves #eliminate #balanced #Nuggets #Game
![Deadspin | PIF to no longer financially back LIV Golf [US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 5, 2026; Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA; Bryson DeChambeau in action during the second round of play at LIV Golf Riyadh at the Riyadh Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Reuters via Imagn Images Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund confirmed Wednesday it will no longer finance LIV Golf, according to the Wall Street Journal. The league will notify its players and staff by Thursday. Reports of PIF pulling its funding have been rampant for weeks. The Telegraph reported LIV officials were summoned to an emergency meeting in New York last week, and a tournament scheduled for June in Louisiana was postponed. In a statement issued to Field Level Media, the league said it planned to move the tournament to the fall to avoid “the peak summer heat and the crowded global sports calendar.” Last Wednesday, ESPN obtained an email LIV CEO Scott O’Neil sent to staff claiming the 2026 season will continue “exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.” He made no mention of LIV’s future beyond 2026, however. Founded in 2021, LIV Golf made its debut in June 2022 and used lavish, guaranteed contracts to lure dozens of stars like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau away from the PGA. PIF has provided LIV with more than $5 billion, but the league has reportedly lost millions of dollars per year. Earlier this month, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF’s governor and LIV’s main financial backer, shared a plan for the kingdom to cut back on international investments and focus on more domestic projects. DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Rahm reportedly turned down the opportunity to return to the PGA Tour earlier this year. According to MSN.com, some LIV players have reached out to the DP World Tour. “At the moment, we’re in the mode of just listening because we don’t know any more than anyone else does”, DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings told MSN. “But we’ll listen and we’ll make sure that we’re fully informed before we make the decisions that we need to do. But for sure, there are people who are concerned and we will be having conversations with them at the right time.” PIF and the PGA Tour signed a Framework Agreement on June 6, 2023, throwing out the lawsuit LIV filed that accused the PGA of being a monopoly. But a deal to work together never came to fruition, despite the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump. LIV has seven more events scheduled for this year, including May 7-10 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. –Field Level Media #Deadspin #PIF #longer #financially #LIV #Golf](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/28164487.jpg "Deadspin | PIF to no longer financially back LIV Golf [US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 5, 2026; Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA; Bryson DeChambeau in action during the second round of play at LIV Golf Riyadh at the Riyadh Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Reuters via Imagn Images Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund confirmed Wednesday it will no longer finance LIV Golf, according to the Wall Street Journal. The league will notify its players and staff by Thursday. Reports of PIF pulling its funding have been rampant for weeks. The Telegraph reported LIV officials were summoned to an emergency meeting in New York last week, and a tournament scheduled for June in Louisiana was postponed. In a statement issued to Field Level Media, the league said it planned to move the tournament to the fall to avoid “the peak summer heat and the crowded global sports calendar.” Last Wednesday, ESPN obtained an email LIV CEO Scott O’Neil sent to staff claiming the 2026 season will continue “exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.” He made no mention of LIV’s future beyond 2026, however. Founded in 2021, LIV Golf made its debut in June 2022 and used lavish, guaranteed contracts to lure dozens of stars like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau away from the PGA. PIF has provided LIV with more than $5 billion, but the league has reportedly lost millions of dollars per year. Earlier this month, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF’s governor and LIV’s main financial backer, shared a plan for the kingdom to cut back on international investments and focus on more domestic projects. DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Rahm reportedly turned down the opportunity to return to the PGA Tour earlier this year. According to MSN.com, some LIV players have reached out to the DP World Tour. “At the moment, we’re in the mode of just listening because we don’t know any more than anyone else does”, DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings told MSN. “But we’ll listen and we’ll make sure that we’re fully informed before we make the decisions that we need to do. But for sure, there are people who are concerned and we will be having conversations with them at the right time.” PIF and the PGA Tour signed a Framework Agreement on June 6, 2023, throwing out the lawsuit LIV filed that accused the PGA of being a monopoly. But a deal to work together never came to fruition, despite the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump. LIV has seven more events scheduled for this year, including May 7-10 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. –Field Level Media #Deadspin #PIF #longer #financially #LIV #Golf")
![Deadspin | PIF to no longer financially back LIV Golf [US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 5, 2026; Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA; Bryson DeChambeau in action during the second round of play at LIV Golf Riyadh at the Riyadh Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Reuters via Imagn Images Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund confirmed Wednesday it will no longer finance LIV Golf, according to the Wall Street Journal. The league will notify its players and staff by Thursday. Reports of PIF pulling its funding have been rampant for weeks. The Telegraph reported LIV officials were summoned to an emergency meeting in New York last week, and a tournament scheduled for June in Louisiana was postponed. In a statement issued to Field Level Media, the league said it planned to move the tournament to the fall to avoid “the peak summer heat and the crowded global sports calendar.” Last Wednesday, ESPN obtained an email LIV CEO Scott O’Neil sent to staff claiming the 2026 season will continue “exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.” He made no mention of LIV’s future beyond 2026, however. Founded in 2021, LIV Golf made its debut in June 2022 and used lavish, guaranteed contracts to lure dozens of stars like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau away from the PGA. PIF has provided LIV with more than $5 billion, but the league has reportedly lost millions of dollars per year. Earlier this month, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF’s governor and LIV’s main financial backer, shared a plan for the kingdom to cut back on international investments and focus on more domestic projects. DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Rahm reportedly turned down the opportunity to return to the PGA Tour earlier this year. According to MSN.com, some LIV players have reached out to the DP World Tour. “At the moment, we’re in the mode of just listening because we don’t know any more than anyone else does”, DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings told MSN. “But we’ll listen and we’ll make sure that we’re fully informed before we make the decisions that we need to do. But for sure, there are people who are concerned and we will be having conversations with them at the right time.” PIF and the PGA Tour signed a Framework Agreement on June 6, 2023, throwing out the lawsuit LIV filed that accused the PGA of being a monopoly. But a deal to work together never came to fruition, despite the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump. LIV has seven more events scheduled for this year, including May 7-10 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. –Field Level Media #Deadspin #PIF #longer #financially #LIV #Golf](https://i0.wp.com/images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/28164487.jpg?ssl=1 "Deadspin | PIF to no longer financially back LIV Golf [US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 5, 2026; Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA; Bryson DeChambeau in action during the second round of play at LIV Golf Riyadh at the Riyadh Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Reuters via Imagn Images Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund confirmed Wednesday it will no longer finance LIV Golf, according to the Wall Street Journal. The league will notify its players and staff by Thursday. Reports of PIF pulling its funding have been rampant for weeks. The Telegraph reported LIV officials were summoned to an emergency meeting in New York last week, and a tournament scheduled for June in Louisiana was postponed. In a statement issued to Field Level Media, the league said it planned to move the tournament to the fall to avoid “the peak summer heat and the crowded global sports calendar.” Last Wednesday, ESPN obtained an email LIV CEO Scott O’Neil sent to staff claiming the 2026 season will continue “exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.” He made no mention of LIV’s future beyond 2026, however. Founded in 2021, LIV Golf made its debut in June 2022 and used lavish, guaranteed contracts to lure dozens of stars like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau away from the PGA. PIF has provided LIV with more than $5 billion, but the league has reportedly lost millions of dollars per year. Earlier this month, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF’s governor and LIV’s main financial backer, shared a plan for the kingdom to cut back on international investments and focus on more domestic projects. DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Rahm reportedly turned down the opportunity to return to the PGA Tour earlier this year. According to MSN.com, some LIV players have reached out to the DP World Tour. “At the moment, we’re in the mode of just listening because we don’t know any more than anyone else does”, DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings told MSN. “But we’ll listen and we’ll make sure that we’re fully informed before we make the decisions that we need to do. But for sure, there are people who are concerned and we will be having conversations with them at the right time.” PIF and the PGA Tour signed a Framework Agreement on June 6, 2023, throwing out the lawsuit LIV filed that accused the PGA of being a monopoly. But a deal to work together never came to fruition, despite the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump. LIV has seven more events scheduled for this year, including May 7-10 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. –Field Level Media #Deadspin #PIF #longer #financially #LIV #Golf")
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