Anthony Edwards' 43 points led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 106-99 home victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Anthony Edwards finished with 43 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets 106-99 in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series and took home court advantage from Denver. was stolen.
Naz Reid scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, Mike Conley had 14 points and 10 assists, and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds for Minnesota, which took a 5-0 lead in the postseason.
“They're the defending champions and a tough team to beat. Great team. They've got great players,” Edwards said of the Nuggets.
“It's tough to beat this team because they got the best player in the league in Nikola Jokic, they got the best closer in Jamal Murray, they got the best 3-point shooter in Michael Porter Jr. ”
Game 2 will be played Monday in Denver.
Anthony Edwards puts on a show and climbs the standings with a career-high performance in the playoffs @Timberwolves To win the first game in Denver!
Karl-Anthony Towns: 20 PTS (8-13 FGM), 4 REB
Naz Reid: 16 PTS (4Q 14), 4 REB
Nikola Jokic: 32 PTS, 8 REB, 9 AST, 3 STLGame 2: Monday, 10pm/ET, TNT pic.twitter.com/iirmYPip3j
— NBA (@NBA) May 5, 2024
For the Nuggets, Jokic had 32 points, Porter had 20 points and Murray had 17 points, all in the second half. The Nuggets are trailing in a playoff series for the first time since losing to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of 2022.
It was a close game at the beginning of the 4th inning, but the Timberwolves became even more calm towards the end.
Conley made his third 3-pointer of the game to give Minnesota an 80-77 lead, but Murray responded from deep and was fouled by Towns. He then completed a four-point play.
Edwards, who scored 25 points in the first half, made a driving layup in traffic and a pull-up shot from 18 feet to put the Timberwolves back on top. Reed made two 3-pointers, made a layup and converted an Edwards miss with a dunk to give Minnesota a 94-88 lead with 4:20 remaining.
Jokic made a 3-point play, but then the Timberwolves took control of the game. Gobert hit a 13-footer on a layup and bank, and Edwards sank two free throws. Porter committed an offensive foul and Edwards' 14-foot fadeaway made it 102-91 with 1:36 left.
Jokic's 3-pointer with 1:02 left cut Denver's lead to 102-96, but the Timberwolves shut it out.
Minnesota took an 18-4 lead with 5:12 left in the first quarter, but the Nuggets stepped up their defense. They forced seven turnovers and held the Timberwolves to 22 points in the final 17 minutes of the first half, leading 44-40 by intermission.
Towns and Conley each scored 11 points in the third quarter, giving Minnesota a 73-71 lead entering the fourth.
“We started 18-4, so we got down early and fought hard to take the lead at halftime, but we didn't play defense in the third,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.
“You can't just trade baskets with that team.”
