DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 30 points, going 16 of 16 from the free-throw line, and Nikola Jokic had a triple-double as the Denver Nuggets shook off a sluggish start to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-105 on Saturday in the opener of their first-round playoff series.
Jokic had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists and a bloody nose in a physical game between the Northwest Division foes. There were 42 fouls called, along with an unsportsmanlike technical on Jaden McDaniels for pushing Jokic in the back and a technical on Nuggets coach David Adelman. Julius Randle and Aaron Gordon picked up late technical fouls, too.
Denver has won 13 straight since losing on March 18.
Murray, who was 0 for 8 from 3-point range, and the Nuggets trailed by as many as 12 points early, but used a 17-2 run in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead. The Timberwolves, who were held scoreless for more than four minutes at one point in the third, trimmed the deficit to 97-95 with 6:23 left.
Jokic had a five-point stretch to help hold off Minnesota. Murray had one of the biggest shots of the game from halfcourt. With the shot clocking winding down, he heaved it at the hoop and it grazed the rim to reset the clock. It eventually led to a dunk from Gordon that gave Denver a 108-101 lead with 1:50 left. Gordon had 17 points despite early foul trouble.
“Winning a grimy game, it's good,” Adelman said. “Both teams are experienced and used to winning these games. They know what it means to play in a physical matchup.”
Game 2 is Monday night.
Anthony Edwards scored 22 points while playing on a sore right knee. He also had seven assists to become the franchise's career postseason assists leader. Donte DiVincenzo had four 3-pointers.
“We’ve got to make smarter, more solid plays,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. ”We've got to be more composed."
These teams are so evenly matched that the Nuggets lead 15-14 in regular-season and playoff matchups since the 2022-23 season. Both have won a playoff series against each other during the stretch.
The first quarter featured two challenges, a technical foul on Adelman and a flagrant on McDaniels for not giving Murray enough room to land on a long jumper. It also saw Gordon pick up three fouls, with his third on an offensive call that led to Adelman's technical.
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Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, right, shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in the first half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
LUANDA, Angola (AP) — Pope Leo XIV challenged Angola’s leaders to break the "cycle of interests” that have plundered and exploited Africa for centuries as he arrived in the southern African country on Saturday with a message of encouragement for its long-suffering people.
Leo's arrival in Angola, the oil-and-mineral rich former Portuguese colony, marked the third leg of his four-nation African voyage. En route from Cameroon, he spoke again of the ongoing back-and-forth with U.S. President Donald Trump over the Iran war.
Leo, history’s first U.S.-born pope, said that it was “not in my interest at all” to debate Trump, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace, justice and brotherhood in Africa.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance later wrote on social media that “I am grateful to Pope Leo for saying this.” Vance, a Catholic convert, suggested earlier in the week that Leo “be careful” when speaking about theology.
In Angola, Leo met with President Joao Lourenco and delivered his first speech to Angolan government authorities, in which he referred repeatedly to Angola’s tortured history of colonial plunder and civil war.
“I desire to meet you in the spirit born of peace and to affirm that your people possess treasures that cannot be bought or stolen,” he said. "There dwells within you a joy that not even the most adverse circumstances have been able to extinguish.”
Angola, which has a population of around 38 million, gained independence from Portugal in 1975. But it still bears the scars of a devastating civil war that began straight after independence and raged on and off for 27 years before finally ending in 2002. More than a half-million people are believed to have been killed.
For years, the civil war was a Cold War proxy conflict, with the United States and apartheid South Africa backing one side and the Soviet Union and Cuba backing the other.
Angola is now the fourth-largest oil producer in Africa and among the world’s top 20 producers, according to the International Energy Agency. The country is also the world’s No. 3 diamond producer and has significant deposits of gold and highly sought after critical minerals.
But despite its varied natural resources, the World Bank estimated in 2023 that more than 30% of the population lived on less than $2.15 a day.
“You know well that all too often people have looked — and continue to look — to your lands in order to give, or, more commonly, in order to take,” Leo told the Angolan authorities.
The pontiff said: “It is necessary to break this cycle of interests, which reduces reality, and even life itself, to mere commodities.”
While in Cameroon, Leo had railed against the “chains of corruption” that were hindering development, as well as the “handful of tyrants” who were ravaging Earth with war and exploitation. He raised similar points in Angola.
“How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are brought about by this logic of extractivism! At every level, we see how it sustains a model of development that discriminates and excludes, while still presuming to impose itself as the only viable option.”
Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the late former president who led Angola for 38 years from 1979 to 2017, was accused of diverting billions of dollars of public money to his family, largely from the country’s oil revenue, as millions struggled in poverty.
After Lourenco took over as president, his administration estimated that at least $24 billion was stolen or misappropriated by dos Santos. Lourenco’s administration has vowed to crack down on corruption and has worked to recover funds allegedly stolen during the dos Santos era.
But critics note that Angola still has deep problems with corruption and have questioned if Lourenco’s actions were more aimed at political rivals so as to consolidate his power.
In his speech Saturday, Lourenco said that the Angolan government was committed to improving the lives of its people, but it was a “complex and difficult challenge.” He also called for an end to the Iran war and asked the pope to continue using his “moral authority” to push for peace and understanding among people.
Angola, on the southwest coast of Africa, was considered to be the epicenter of the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a Portuguese colony. More than 5 million of the roughly 12.5 million enslaved Africans were sent across the ocean on ships departing from Angola, more than any other country, though not all of them were Angolans.
The highlight of Leo’s visit to Angola is expected to be his visit on Sunday to Muxima, south of Luanda. It’s a popular Catholic shrine in a country where around 58% of the population is Catholic.
The Church of Our Lady of Muxima was built by Portuguese colonizers at the end of the 16th century as part of a fortress complex and became a hub in the slave trade. It remains a reminder of the inextricable link hundreds of years ago between Roman Catholicism and the exploitation of the African continent.
Leo has Black and white ancestors who included both enslaved people and slave owners, according to genealogical research. He's going to Muxima to pray the rosary, in recognition of the site becoming a popular pilgrimage destination after believers reported an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833.
Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
People wait for Pope Leo XIV at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV, left, and Angola's President Joao Lourenco, exchange gifts at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
Pope Leo XIV arrives in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Pope Leo XIV waves after arriving in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
The plane carrying Pope Leo XIV arrives in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Pope Leo XIV waves after arriving in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
People traveling on a motorcycles ride past a mural featuring Pope Leo XIV, in Luanda, South Africa, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
The plane carrying Pope Leo XIV arrives in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Pope Leo XIV arrives in procession to celebrate Mass at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Cameroon's President Paul Biya, left, and his wife Chantal wait for the start of a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People wait for Pope Leo XIV at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV arrives to celebrate Mass at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV arrives to celebrate Mass at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
