DENVER (AP) — The reigning NBA champions could be facing an early exit if they don't bring more urgency and physicality into their series with Minnesota.
While Anthony Edwards was leading Minnesota's efficient offense, the Timberwolves' trio of towers hounded MVP favorite Nikola Jokic into 14 missed shots and seven turnovers in their 106-99 win in Game 1.
The rotation of Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid confounded Jokic and underscored the Wolves' deeper bench, bigger lineup and more physical approach in the opener.
Jokic will have to figure out a way to counter that terrific trio in Game 2 on Monday night in order to send the series to Minneapolis knotted up.
Answers don't come easily.
“To have a duplicate clone of myself,” Jokic cracked after pondering the riddle for several seconds. “And then I can ... be fresh when they sub another guy.”
It'll be a serious matter come tipoff Monday night.
“Well, there's only one Nikola Jokic,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Sunday. "Obviously, everything he brings to the table on both ends of the floor is pretty unique, so as far as asking someone else on our roster to go in there and do what Nikola does may be a stretch.
“But what's not a stretch is for anybody to go into the game and play with a lot more physicality, play with a lot more urgency, play with a lot more discipline."
All were lacking as the Nuggets lost a Game 1 for the first time in two years.
“Now it's a new challenge,” Malone said. “So, let's embrace that. We are down, didn't want to be, but we are. So, let's fight like hell tomorrow night and leave it all out there.”
If only the Nuggets could get a healthier version of point guard Jamal Murray, who was rusty and still bothered by his strained left calf Saturday night, going scoreless in the first half and getting targeted repeatedly after halftime by the Wolves' pick-and-rolls that produced so many good looks.
Murray said everybody's fighting through ailments this time of year and he's no different, but he insisted he'll be fine for Game 2 after logging 35 minutes in Game 1.
The Wolves shot 71% in the second half and snatched a page from Denver's playbook by using an 8-0 spurt to break open the back-and-forth game in the closing minutes.
“Just watching the league the whole season, Denver is THE best team at executing down the stretch,” Wolves guard Kyle Anderson said Sunday. "They do such a good job. It's like uncanny at times, they're so good down the stretch. We were able to execute offensively and defensively. It was pretty impressive because you're so used to watching Denver pull out the win.”
Also Monday night, the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks renew their storied rivalry as they open their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series at Madison Square Garden.
Timberwolves lead 1-0. Game 2, 10 p.m., TNT
— NEED TO KNOW: The Nuggets realize a faster start will be their best counter to the athletic and loaded Timberwolves lineup. They've trailed by big margins in the first quarter of all six of their playoff games and allowed Minnesota to get off to an 18-4 start in Game 1. No more cruising, no more pacing was the message during film review Sunday. “We have to do a better job, and our starters in particular have to do a better job of being ready to play and setting a tone early," Malone said. "What are we waiting for?”
— KEEP AN EYE ON: Edwards' supporting cast that came up so big in the second half, which was a bigger thorn in Malone's side than Edwards' 43 points. "This may sound strange but he's going to get his,” Malone said. “But you look at the third quarter. Mike Conley had 11 points, did not miss a shot, Karl-Anthony Towns had 11 points, did not miss a shot. Fourth quarter, Naz Reid had 14 points, went 6 for 7. Those are the guys that we have to find a way to shut down.”
INJURY WATCH: Murray's strained left calf robbed him of his usual burst to the basket and explosion off the dribble. His zero points at halftime marked his first scoreless half in 59 career playoff games.
PRESSURE IS ON: The Nuggets. They have to even things up before the series shifts to Minneapolis or this could indeed be an early exit for the defending champs, who would need to beat Edwards four times in five tries otherwise.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, right, goes up for a basket over Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, left, goes up to block a shot by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, right, as Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) looks on in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, drives to the basket as Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert defends in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Arizona's attorney general says former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state's fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday.
“The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law,” Mayes wrote.
The attorney general’s spokesman Richie Taylor said in an email to The Associated Press on Saturday that Giuliani faces the same charges as the other defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.
Giuliani’s political adviser, Ted Goodman, confirmed Giuliani was served Friday night after his 80th birthday celebration as he was walking to the car.
“We look forward to full vindication soon,” Goodman said in a statement Saturday.
The indictment alleges that Giuliani “pressured” Arizona legislators and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to change the outcome of Arizona’s election and that he was responsible for encouraging Republican electors in Arizona and six other contested states to vote for Trump.
Taylor said an unredacted copy of the indictment will be released Monday. He said Giuliani is expected to appear in court Tuesday unless he is granted a delay by the court.
Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, is among others who have been indicted in the case.
Neither Meadows nor Giuliani were named in the redacted grand jury indictment released earlier because they had not been served with it, but they were readily identifiable based on descriptions in the document. The Arizona attorney general’s office said Wednesday that Meadows had been served and confirmed that he was charged with the same counts as the other named defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.
With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election.
Giuliani faces other legal proceedings, and a bankruptcy judge this past week said he was “disturbed” about the status of the case and for missed deadlines to file financial disclosure reports. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148 million to two former election workers for spreading a false conspiracy theory about their role in the 2020 election.
Giuliani was also indicted last year by a grand jury in Georgia, where he is accused of spearheading Trump’s efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint pro-Trump electoral college electors.
Among the defendants are 11 Arizona Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election — including a former state GOP chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. The other defendants are Mike Roman, who was Trump’s director of Election Day operations, and four attorneys accused of organizing an attempt to use fake documents to persuade Congress not to certify Biden’s victory: John Eastman, Christina Bobb, Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis.
Trump himself was not charged but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.
The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes.
Eastman, who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election, became the first person charged in Arizona’s fake elector case to be arraigned on Friday. He pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.
Eastman made a brief statement outside the courthouse, saying the charges against him should have never been filed.
“I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona (and) zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings. And I am confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I will be fully be exonerated at the end of this process,” Eastman said. He declined to make further comment.
Arraignments are scheduled May 21 for 12 other people charged in the case, including nine of the 11 Republicans who had submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Trump had won Arizona.
The Arizona indictment said Eastman encouraged the GOP electors to cast their votes in December 2020, unsuccessfully pressured state lawmakers to change the election’s outcome in Arizona and told then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could reject Democratic electors in the counting of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
Associated Press writers Jacques Billeaud and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report.
FILE - Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Washington, Dec. 15, 2023. Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes says Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state’s fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
