DENVER — Anthony Edwards overcame a slow start and the Timberwolves rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to beat the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets 98-90 in a dominant Game 7 in Minnesota on Sunday night. .
The Timberwolves overcame a 15-point deficit at halftime behind Edwards, making it the biggest Game 7 comeback in NBA playoff history, but Edwards had just four points, no rebounds, and three assists at halftime. He ended up scoring 16 points, eight boards, and dishing out seven assists.
His impact was evidenced by his 6-of-24 shooting performance, including 2-of-10 from 3-point range.
“Tonight was tough for me because I just couldn’t find my rhythm,” Edwards said. “So I just had to trust my teammates. …I had to make the right plays the rest of the game. When I did that, my teammates made the shots. Big shout out to those guys. I will send you
As Minnesota took control late, Edwards repeatedly denied Jamal Murray, who had 24 points by halftime and finished with 35 points.
“There are other ways to win basketball games without being an offensive player,” Edwards said. “I’m not one-dimensional. I’m not a player who can just score. I’m a guy who can lock whoever their best guard is. Fourth quarter, third. I feel like we did that against Jamal in the quarter and fourth quarter, and it turned the game around.”
As the seconds ticked down, Edwards dribbled the ball up the court and took the time to wave goodbye to the stunned crowd at Ball Arena. The Nuggets’ 33-8 record this season was second best in the league, but the Timberwolves won three games. Double this series.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaden McDaniels each scored 23 points for the Timberwolves, who reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time in exactly 20 years.
They will play the Dallas Mavericks at Target Center starting Wednesday night.
“It feels great,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “It feels good to win against a team like them, an unbelievable team, a championship team with the best players in the world.
Murray’s strong start gave the Nuggets a 53-38 lead at halftime, and Murray’s 3-pointer with 10:50 left in the third pushed Denver’s lead to 58-38.
The Timberwolves turned to one of the stingiest defenses in the NBA to get back into the game, finishing the quarter on a 28-9 run and entering the fourth quarter up 67-66.
Gobert’s bucket to start the fourth quarter gave the Timberwolves their first lead since the first quarter, Towns picked up his fifth foul, and Naz Reid, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, made a spectacular play on both ends of the floor. He showed great performance and gave Minnesota the lead. .
In a key stretch that started with Minnesota leading 85-82, Reed made two free throws and a dunk before hitting Edwards with an incredible 3-pointer to put the Timberwolves up 92 with three minutes left. He led with 82.
Murray made 4 of 18 shots in the Nuggets’ 115-70 loss in Game 6, the largest loss in playoff history by the reigning champions, making 13 of 27 shots. He scored 35 points.
Jokic added 34 points the rest of the way with 19 rebounds, but the duo had little help as no other Denver player ever reached double-digit scoring.
“So much was on their shoulders,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We expect Jokic and Jamal to continue to pull rabbits out of caps, but someone else has to help.”
This was the Timberwolves’ first Game 7 since defeating Sacramento in the second round exactly 20 years ago.
This is the only time they have advanced to the conference finals.
The Nuggets were appearing in Game 7 for the fifth time in the past six seasons and seeking to advance to the conference finals for the third time in that span.
“That was a hell of a series,” Malone said. “They gave us everything they could and we ended up winning Game 7 on our home court, but that was a tough pill to swallow. Yes.”
The Nuggets are the defending champions who have failed to advance to the conference finals for the fifth year in a row.
The last time Golden State did that was in 2019, when the Warriors reached the NBA Finals but lost to Toronto.
“What I keep reminding myself of is that even though I think of the San Antonio Spurs as a dynasty, they’ve never won back-to-back games,” Malone said. “The loss, the hurt, the pain, that helped us win our first championship. Can we use it again this year?”
Murray thinks so.
“Indeed,” he said. “I’m back to being a hunter.”
