The Timberwolves knew that the only way they were going to stop Paul Millsap was to injure him. Immediately prior to his forehead getting gashed by Karl-Anthony Towns’ elbow, Millsap had scored on three straight possessions. It was seeming to the Wolves that Millsap was just going to continue to score on every possession until the game was so out of reach that he was benched in favor of Tyler Lydon. So they got Towns to elbow his head.
It kind of worked, because Millsap didn’t score for a full quarter plus change, but he got a helpful bucket with a minute to go, so the plan to take Millsap out of the game was only a partial success. Honestly, I think an elbow drop on Millsap while he was lying on the ground clutching his face would have been sufficient to keep him in the locker room for the rest of the game. Or grab a chair from somewhere and hit him with it. Yeah, I’m borrowing ideas from professional wrestling, so what? Those guys know how to injure each other. They’re pros at it. That’s why it’s called “professional” wrestling.
I’m still of the opinion that Millsap is ruining the nuggets by his playstyle (shooting, playmaking big man) being incompatible with a certain tubby Euro who is also a shooting, playmaking big man, but right now the cool thing is to hate on Murray and Harris, so I will espouse that opinion instead. I hate Jamal Murray and Gary Harris. They are ruining the Nuggets. Paul Millsap is the ruiner of the Nuggets.