Friday night's Game 3 between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves averaged 5.21 million viewers on ESPN.

The number is up 10% from the Nuggets-Suns matchup last year and is the fourth most-watched game of the playoffs.

The Nuggets have played in four out of the six most-watched games in the playoffs.

After his frustration level reached a boiling point in Game 2, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets have bounced back to tie the series at 2-2 by winning both games at the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Murray appears to be have his confidence back, which did not go unnoticed by Anthony Edwards.

As the game ended, Edwards and Murray crossed paths with the Wolves' star clapping his hands, nodding his head and watching Murray.

"I just told his ass we love that," said Edwards after Game 4. "'Keep talking [like] that. That's what we like.' Well, I loved it. He didn't say nothing back. But I'm pretty sure he heard me. They heard me. You live for that."

Murray had 19 points in the game, including a 55-footer to beat the halftime buzzer.

The Detroit Pistons plan on pursuing Tim Connelly to run their front office, sources tell James L. Edwards III and Shams Charania of The Athletic. 

Connelly is expected to opt out of his contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves even if he intends to stay with the franchise. Connelly is considered likely to return to the Wolves, but an offer from the Pistons worth approximately $15 million per season could sway the decision. 

The Wolves hired Connelly away from the Denver Nuggets in 2022, but he has an opt-out this offseason. 

The Milwaukee Bucks denied permission from the Pistons to interview Jon Horst for the job.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley is aware he's one of the final players from his draft class still playing in the NBA. Conley also knows the end is approaching, but he's not really thinking about that.

When asked about his future, Conley said, "Before I signed the extension, it was like, ‘Man, it could be this year, it could be next year, it could be any year.’ But then as I played this year out, I was like, ‘Man, I haven’t slowed down yet, and I just can’t imagine myself leaving when I haven’t hit that bottom yet.’ So I’m just gonna burn these tires off and not put a date on it and see what happens."

Conley is one of five players from the 2007 draft class still playing (Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Al Horford and Thaddeus Young are the others), and that's something Conley said he and the others take pride in.

"Oh, yeah. I think about that when I get out on the court every day, bro, I promise you. When I pray before the games, it’s just all gratitude. It’s just like, ‘Bro, I’m out here in front of all these people again, like I get to do this again?’ It’s not a given. I’m 36," Conley said. "Like you said, there aren’t too many of us that are still playing and trying to do it at a high level. And I take pride in that. I know all the guys. You know, I see Thaddeus Young, guys who were in my draft class, Jeff Green, you see all the guys, and you give them a head nod. ‘Keep going, bro. Don’t let them stop you.’ … It’s a sense of pride."

Karl-Anthony Towns has won the 2023-24 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award.

An NBA selection committee chose Towns “due to his dedication to pursue social justice and uphold Abdul-Jabbar and the league’s decades-long values of equality, respect and inclusion,” an NBA source said.

Other finalists included Bam Adebayo, CJ McCollum, Lindy Waters III and Russell Westbrook.

Towns played a key role in the passage of Minnesota’s Restore the Vote bill (H.F.28), a bipartisan legislation that restored the right to vote to more than 55,000 formerly incarcerated people in March 2023.

Towns is expected to receive the award before Friday's Game 3 against the Denver Nuggets.

Rudy Gobert has been named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for a record-tying fourth time.  

Gobert had 72 first place votes and 433 total points. Victor Wembanyama finished second with 245 total points out of 19 first place votes, 44 second place votes and 18 third place votes. Bam Adebayo finished third with 91 total points ahead of Anthony Davis with 83.

Gobert joins Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only four-time winners of the award, which has been presented annually since the 1982-83 season.

In the 2023-24 regular season, Gobert ranked sixth in the NBA in blocks per game (2.13) and fourth in defensive rebounds per game (9.2).  Opponents shot 43.4% from the field when Gobert was the closest defender, 6.1% lower than their expected percentage on those shots (49.5%).  That difference was the largest among the 105 players who defended at least 800 shots during the season.

Led by Gobert, the Timberwolves had the best defensive rating, allowed the fewest points per game and held opponents to the lowest field goal percentage in the NBA.  The top-ranked defense helped Minnesota (56-26) post the second-best record in franchise history and earn the No. 3 playoff seed in the Western Conference.  

Rudy Gobert missed Game 2 of the Minnesota Timberwolves' second round series against the Denver Nuggets following the birth of his first child. 

There was some level of optimism that Gobert could return to Denver in time for the game.

Host Danny Leroux talks with Kevin Pelton of ESPN (@kpelton.bsky.social) about the NBA playoffs.

They break down each of the four second-round series in terms of the key matchups, swing factors and much more plus other NBA discussion.

Subscribe to RealGM Radio on Apple Podcasts or via the RSS feed. 

Rudy Gobert is questionable or Game 2 of the Minnesota Timberwolves' second round series against the Denver Nuggets for personal reasons. Gobert was not at shootaround with the Wolves.

Gobert's partner announced earlier this year that they were expecting a baby.

The Wolves enter the game up 1-0 over the Nuggets.

The NBA has rescinded a technical foul assessed to Anthony Edwards in the third quarter of the Minnesota Timberwolves Game 1 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Edwards stared at but didn't say anything to Reggie Jackson after beating him on a basket.

Edwards was shocked to be issued a technical foul on the play.