Divine reimburses Huazi's injury withdrawal, the Timberwolves fight for the most tragic victory.

If a team loses its most important perimeter defender within 79 seconds of the opening, and its core player exits injured before halftime, the only script left for this team seems to be "honorable defeat." But today, the Timberwolves tore up that predetermined script themselves, once again clamping down on the Nuggets in the same manner.

Divincenzo is one of only four players in the league who started and played all 82 games, the Timberwolves' healthiest player throughout the season, providing substantial offensive output. However, in Game 4 of the playoffs, he collapsed early during a non-contact push-off; watching him touch his Achilles on the broadcast, I immediately realized what had happened.

Slow-motion replay showed the familiar calf muscle twitch; Divincenzo was quickly diagnosed with an Achilles tendon tear, ending his season, with uncertainty about his return next season. For someone who played all 82 regular-season games, this outcome is brutally cruel.

A sad coincidence: the players who suffered Achilles tears in the playoffs these two years—Lillard, Tatum, Haliburton, and Divincenzo—all wore jersey number 0.

The Timberwolves' tragedy didn't end there; Edwards landed with an overextended left knee during a defensive play in the second quarter, then fell in pain clutching his left knee. Divincenzo walked back to the locker room himself, while Edwards couldn't even walk independently and was assisted off the court.

His right knee runner's knee had never fully healed; this left knee overextension was clearly compensation from the left knee, a chain reaction of issues. Edwards' injury isn't optimistic; he certainly won't return to the court anytime soon.

With Divincenzo out and Edwards injured, the Timberwolves were pushed to the brink. Meanwhile, Gordon returned for the Nuggets, and Jokić seemed to find the right way to play, at least not losing himself in the first half. The turning point occurred when Gordon couldn't continue.

Gordon's return today was clearly "playing through injury"; his exertion was problematic, leaving only a mid-range shot for offense. But Gordon's presence on the court alone served as a natural barrier for Jokić, preventing guards from continuously attacking Jokić with Gordon in front.

Once Gordon exited, Jokić reverted to his previous game's state, constantly challenged by Timberwolves players at the rim. This time, Dosunmu challenged Jokić; Dosunmu's pick-and-roll with the center, Jokić repeatedly chose to drop back, allowing Dosunmu to hit consecutive threes.

Despite losing two key guards, the Timberwolves trusted their roster depth, elevating veteran Conley and Shannon into the rotation, maintaining a nine-to-ten player rotation throughout, sustaining game intensity.

In contrast, the Nuggets, after Gordon's injury, didn't pull anyone from the bench, opting to finish the game with seven players, relying on Jokić's rim protection and drop defense, again losing control of the game.

As the game progressed, the Timberwolves continuously increased intensity and pace, exhausting the Nuggets' short rotation, leaving Jokić no breathing room. Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves overwhelmed the Nuggets and Jokić.

The entire fourth quarter, Jokić played 9 minutes, 6 shots 0 hits, 2 three-pointers 0 hits, 4 free throws 4 hits, scoring 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block. This is one of the worst Jokić performances I've seen; his body language was extremely poor, defense effort lacking or simply exhausted, offense listless, no drive to chase the score.

Near game end, McDaniels made a layup, provoking Jokić's strong displeasure, leading to intense conflict and Jokić's ejection. McDaniels' action was certainly unsportsmanlike, but Jokić's fury, juxtaposed with his fourth-quarter collapse, seemed somewhat "ineffectual rage"; the best retaliation would be to bounce back next game.

Over the last 3 games, Jokić was completely stifled by Gobert, totaling 68 shots 23 hits, only 33.8% shooting; 20 three-pointers 3 hits, only 15%. No excuses; to avoid being nailed to the pillar of shame, Jokić must extend the series length, striving for a third 1-3 comeback.

For the Timberwolves, today's biggest surprise was undoubtedly Dosunmu; last game he scored 25 points, setting a playoff career high. Today he scored double digits in all three remaining quarters, single-handedly dismantling Nuggets defense, overall 17 shots 13 hits, 5 threes 5 hits, 12 free throws all hits, totaling 43 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists.

43 points massively刷新ed Dosunmu's career high, also the second-highest playoff scoring by a替补. Before coming to Minnesota, Dosunmu was Chicago's son but never had such a stage; his tenacity perfectly matches the Timberwolves' inherent stubbornness.

It's worth noting that mid-season, the Bulls主动 proposed to the Rockets trading Dosunmu for Eason, which the Rockets果断 refused. Now the Rockets face extreme weakness in their guard line, perhaps regretting not acquiring Dosunmu.

Although the Timberwolves lead 3-1, no one can say this series is settled; the Timberwolves lost two key cores, and Jokić很难 gives worse court performance.

The word "grueling" has become this series' theme; "survival rules" in playoffs is an unchanging iron law.