The Nuggets lastly met a crew that may dangle with them within the fourth quarter on Saturday. Now they’re trailing in a playoff sequence for the primary time since 2022. Listed here are three stars from Saturday’s NBA playoff motion.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards | 43 factors, seven rebounds
Many individuals have referred to as the Nikola Jokic-Jamal Murray duo the perfect two-man sport within the NBA. After Minnesota’s 106-99 win in Sport 1, the NBA’s greatest two-man sport may merely be Anthony Edwards and whoever occurs to be on the court docket with him.
Edwards adopted up his 40-point sport to brush the Phoenix Suns with a 43-point effort in Denver. Minnesota wanted him as he scored 25 of its 40 first-half factors to maintain the Wolves afloat. Minnesota then obtained explosive offensive spurts from Karl-Anthony Cities and Mike Conley within the third quarter, Naz Reid within the fourth and even Rudy Gobert late.
However the fearless Edwards was the engine that drove the Wolves to their upset. Staring on the defending champs and a probable three-time MVP in Jokic, Edwards didn’t flinch.
Minnesota Timberwolves middle Naz Reid | 14 fourth-quarter factors
In case you puzzled how Reid gained Sixth Man of the Yr, the fourth quarter of Sport 1 confirmed off why he was extremely helpful to Minnesota, even with massive males Gobert and Karl-Anthony Cities in place.
In a single fourth-quarter stretch, Reid scored 10 factors in a row for Minnesota, making two three-pointers, a layup and a putback dunk. By the top of his run, the Wolves had been up six factors, and Denver by no means obtained nearer than three factors afterward.