Also defeated at home, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets are now on the verge of elimination, trailing 3-0 in their best-of-seven series by the Golden State Warriors, winners 118-113 in Colorado in the third game of Thursday evening.

In Minneapolis, Ja Morant's Grizzlies, clumsy (5/18 shooting) but author of a triple double (16 pts, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) were led by 26 points in the second quarter, and another 25 at the end of the third quarter, before outclassing the Timberwolves 37-12 in the last period of the game to finally win and regain the advantage 2-1 in their series.

"This victory gives us a lot of emotion - we have come back from so far," admitted Desmond Bane, Memphis' leading scorer with 26 points.

"But we have to keep a cool head, it's the first to four wins who wins."

"The whole team stayed focused and resisted throughout the game," said the back again.

On the Wolves side, D'Angelo Russell finished top scorer with 22 points, but none in the fourth quarter, Anthony Edwards added 19 points and 7 rebounds, but Karl-Anthony Towns disappointed, limited by faults and the aggressive defense of Memphis with 8 points and 5 rebounds.

Warriors close to qualifying

In Utah, Dallas also regained the lead in their series against the Jazz, thanks to another victory won without their Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic, injured and absent for the first three games of the play-offs, but who could make his return during match N.4.

Jalen Brunson of the Dallas Mavericks faces Donovan Mitchell in Game 3 of the NBA playoff series between the two teams on April 21, 2022 in Salt Lake City.

Alex Goodlett GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

As in match N.2, the Mavericks were able to count on Jalen Brunson, author of 31 points despite a painful back after a shock with his opponent Royce O'Neal, to contain the return of Donovan Mitchell (32 pts) and his teammates.

The latter counted up to 17 points behind, before returning to a very small point from Dallas in the fourth quarter, without ever managing to come back in front.

"The most important thing was to stick together," Brunson said after the game.

"When they did their + runs +, we didn't collapse".

In Denver finally, in the third meeting of the evening, the Warriors took a big step towards the second round of the play-offs by winning a third consecutive victory against the Nuggets, thanks to their trio Stephen Curry (27 pts)-Jordan Poole (27 pts)-Klay Thompson (26 pts).

With 37 points at 14/22 shooting, 18 rebounds and 5 assists, the 2021 MVP Nikola Jokic tried everything, but was not enough during a long very tight match, but concluded with a 9-2 victory. Golden State.

Nikola Jokic during the Nuggets loss to Golden State on April 21, 2022 in Denver.

MATTHEW STOCKMAN GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Next meeting between the two teams: Sunday in Denver, where the Nuggets will be keen to avoid a "sweep".

© 2022 AFP