Minnesota's often-critiqued center has his team on the cusp of a series win vs. Denver thanks to his defensive might.

Minnesota's Game 6 heroes were the same names often tossed into past superstar trade talks.

Elevated into the starting lineup of a heavily depleted backcourt, Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a career-playoff-high 24 points to help the Minnesota Timberwolves close out the Denver Nuggets 110-98 in Game 6 of ​a first-round playoff series on Thursday in Minneapolis.

Jaden McDaniels made plenty of enemies in Denver during Minnesota’s first-round series victory over the Nuggets, not that he minds. Between the strong play, two-handed pushes, end-of-game buckets and verbal jabs such as identifying numerous Nuggets players as “bad defenders,

Minnesota, with a chance to close out the Nuggets in Denver, fell flat Monday night in Game 5, getting blown out in the second half and losing 125-113.