Playoffs: Nuggets coach Malone loses cool, Edwards trash talks Murray after T-Wolves win West semis

Denver, USA

Defending champions Denver Nuggets crashed out of the title race after being beaten 98-90 by the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 7 of West semis in NBA Playoffs on Sunday (May 19). Nuggets coach Michael Malone was clearly not happy with the result and used the profane language in the after-game press conference.

On being asked how hard it is to handle the loss, especially when the Nuggets were up by 20 points, Malone replied: “Next question, man. The season’s over. That’s what’s hard. F–k being up 20. The season’s over. You don’t understand that. The season’s over, it’s hard."

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“Stupid a– questions,” Malone further seemed to mutter to himself. Have a look at the video below:

On the other hand, Timberwolves playoffs hero Anthony Edwards also had some trash talk about Nuggets' Jamal Murray. While exiting the venue after the game, Edwards was seen having a chat with two Minnesota supporters and said: “I had Jamal [Murray] in handcuffs." Have a look at the video below:

As for the game, the Nuggets started the must-win game with 24 points in the first quarter while the Timberwolves managed just 19. The second quarter timeline was also similar as Denver scored 29 while Minnesota managed 19.

Trailing by 15 points at the half, the Timberwolves came back hard in the 3Q, dropping 28 points against Denver's 14. In the last 12 minutes, the Wolves scored 32 points while Denver managed 23 and lost the game by a difference of eight points.

For Nuggets, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray were the stars, scoring 34 and 35 points respectively. For Timberwolves, it was more of a team work with Jaden McDaniels and Karl-Anthony Towns being the top scorers with 23 points each. Apart from them, Edwards scored 16 points while Rudy Gobert managed 13 points.