DENVER (AP) — Anthony Edwards rebounded from a slow start and the Timberwolves rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to eliminate the champions reigning of the NBAlos Nuggets de Denver98-90 in a Game 7 masterpiece from Minnesota on Sunday night.
The Timberwolves overcame a 15-point halftime deficit, the largest comeback in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history, behind Edwards, who scored just four points, no rebounds and three assists in the half. time, but finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
His impact contrasted his 6-of-24 shooting performance, which included a 2-of-10 three-point shooting.
“It was tough, man, because I couldn’t find my rhythm tonight,” Edwards said. “So I had to trust my teammates. …I just had to make the right plays the rest of the game. I did it and my teammates made shots. A big shout out to those guys.”
When Minnesota took control late, Edwards repeatedly denied Jamal Murray, who scored 24 points at halftime and finished with 35.
“There are more ways to win the game of basketball when you’re just not an offensive player,” Edwards said. “I’m not one-dimensional. I’m not just a guy who can score. I’m a guy that, whoever his best guard is, I can lock him up. I feel like I did that with Jamal in the fourth quarter, in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter, and that’s what changed the game.”
As the seconds ticked away, Edwards dribbled the ball toward the opponent’s basket and took the time to say goodbye to the fans.
The Wolves, who got 23 points from Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaden McDaniels, advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time in exactly 20 years. They will face the Dallas Mavericks, starting Wednesday night at the Target Center.
“It feels great,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “Beating a team like this, an incredible team, a champion team, with the best player in the world, feels good.”
The Nuggets became the fifth consecutive defending champion to fail to reach the conference finals. Behind Jamal Murray’s 24 points in the first half, the Nuggets went into the break with a 53-38 lead, and Murray’s 3-pointer with 10:50 left in the third quarter pushed Denver’s lead to 58-38.
The Wolves relied on their defense, the strongest in the NBA, to get back into the game and closed the quarter with a 28-9 run to get within 67-66 to start the fourth quarter.
Rudy Gobert gave the Wolves their first lead since the first quarter with a jumper early in the fourth and when Towns committed his fifth foul, Naz Reid, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, was spectacular on both ends of the court to keep Minnesota ahead.
In a crucial stretch that began with Minnesota up 85-82, Reid made two free throws and a dunk before feeding Edwards for a game-breaking 3-pointer that put the Wolves ahead 92-82 with three minutes remaining and they never looked back.
Source: AP
