Nuggets vs. Timberwolves: Who will get the last laugh in Game 7?

The jokes were piling up. 

A Cinderella story for the Minnesota Timberwolves after their 2-0 start? Ha. The reigning champion Denver Nuggets were making them look more like a fluke than a contender. MVP vs. Defensive Player of the Year? Funny. Nikola Jokić was having his way with Rudy Gobert, making him look more like a pesky fly than a defensive stalwart.

How quickly that narrative can change. 

In Game 6, the Timberwolves responded to their recent three-game skid with a 45-point win, 115-70, tying their Western Conference semifinals series, 3-3. 

Forty-five points? In the playoffs? Against the defending champions? That's the type of performance that can swing things. And with everything coming down to Game 7 on Sunday, you have to wonder whether the Nuggets can shake off this mental hangover in time to remember their DNA. 

The Timberwolves were unrecognizable from their recent stagnant play. 

Let's start with their defense. Remember Game 5 when Nikola Jokić had his way with the Timberwolves, finishing with 40 points on 15-for-22 shooting, 13 assists and seven rebounds? You know, the game that inspired Draymond Green to take jabs at both Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns?

In short, in an appearance on TNT, Green said Gobert was being so cooked that he likened him to "BBQ chicken." And he poked fun at Karl-Anthony Towns limping off the floor "after he played the rest of that game totally fine."

Well, both of those guys transformed from punchlines to heavyweights in Game 6. 

They held Jokic to 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting and just two assists, his second-lowest scoring output this postseason. They combined for 27 rebounds. Gobert was plus-30 and Towns was plus-25. The Timberwolves held the Nuggets to just 30.2 percent