Nuggets' Nikola Jokic calls 45-point playoff blowout 'a great loss'

May 17 (UPI) -- Nikola Jokic said he didn't want the Denver Nuggets to forget their 45-point blowout setback to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, urging teammates to learn from "a great loss."

Jokic made the comments at his postgame news conference after the 115-70 series-tying thrashing Thursday at Target Center in Minneapolis. The three-time NBA MVP logged 22 points and nine rebounds.

"I think we need to let it sink in," Jokic told reporters. "It's a great loss. They beat us. They destroyed us. We should learn from it.

"You give them respect."

The third-seeded Timberwolves shot 46.5% from the floor, while holding the No. 2 Nuggets to 30.2% clip. They also held a 62-43 edge in rebounding and outpaced their foes 46-36 in points in the paint, 18-9 in fast break points, 36-9 in bench points and 19-3 in points off turnovers.

They led by as many as 50 points en route to forcing a decisive seventh game of the series.

"I'm going to take this as a great loss," Jokic said. "They beat our [expletive]. They were better than us in every segment of the game. We need to accept it, take it and try to be better next time.

"When you lose by 45, it's not something that happens every day. Just accept it. I'm cool with it."

Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards scored 19 of his 27 points in the first half of the win. Jaden McDaniels chipped in 21 points. Fellow Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns logged 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

Veteran guard Mike Conley, who missed Game 5 because of an Achilles tendon injury, totaled 13 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Timberwolves.

"Guys [were] just believing in themselves," Edwards said. "I think the last three games, we were all down on ourselves. We were trying to point the finger and blame somebody. Before the game, the coaches and staff did a great job of putting a clip together with the plays we made in the two games we won against these guys.

"Everybody started to believe after the edit they put together. I could tell the energy shifted."

The Nuggets started the game with a 9-2 run. Edwards and the Timberwolves roared back with 20 unanswered points, carried a 31-14 lead into the second quarter and never looked back. They added another 13-0 run in the second and held a 59-40 edge at halftime.

The Timberwolves outscored the Nuggets 27-21 in the third quarter. They used a 26-1 run in the fourth to push their edge to 114-64 with 4:28 remaining.

The Timberwolves outscored the Nuggets 29-9 over the final 12 minutes, with most of the star players, including Jokic and Edwards, missing the majority -- if not the entirety -- of the frame.

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon and guard Jamal Murray scored just 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the loss. The Nuggets made just 7 of 36 (19.4%) of their 3-point attempts.

They will host the Timberwolves in Game 7 on Sunday in Denver. The winner of the series will face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder or No. 5 Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals. The Mavericks, who lead that series 3-2, will host the Thunder in Game 6 at 8 p.m. Saturday in Dallas.