Anthony Edwards scored a game-high 43 points and Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid went haywire with points in the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 106-99 in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series Saturday night in Denver.
The 43 points were a playoff career high for Edwards.
With just under six minutes left, Reid hit a 3 off the glass as the shot clock was expiring to put Minnesota up 87-84. Then he sent in a slammed dunk after Edwards had failed to hit a 3-pointer. Reid then threw another 3 to put the Wolves up 94-88 with just under five minutes remaining.
If you had seen the game at halftime, you would conclude that the Nuggets would take the win, as they were up by four points already. The Nuggets also took a lead as large as seven points in the third quarter, but the Timberwolves had something else coming.
Karl-Anthony Towns was a perfect 5 for 5 from the field in the frame and Mike Conley had 11 third-quarter points.
Edwards hit back-to-back jumpers and Nickeil Alexander-Walker hit a 3-pointer for a 7-0 Wolves run during the quarter as the Wolves eventually found their way to a 73-71 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Towns finished with 20 points and four rebounds while Conley had 14 points and 10 assists.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was on the bench and coaching just three days after undergoing surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee during Game 4 of their first-round series against the Phoenix Suns.
