Minnesota used a strong fourth quarter to hold off Denver 106-99 in the second-round playoff series opener.
DENVER — The Denver Nuggets appear to have a problem – and his name is Anthony Edwards.
The Minnesota Timberwolves guard came to play in Game 1, exploding for a game-high 43 points as his team stole the second-round playoff series opener on Denver’s home court Saturday with a 106-99 victory.
Another slow start plagued the Nuggets yet again as they began the game in an 18-4 hole before digging out to small leads at the end of both the first quarter and halftime.
Karl-Anthony Towns helped Minnesota’s offensive attack with 20 points, but ran into foul trouble in the fourth quarter.
In most cases that would be an advantage for his opponent. This time, however, it led Minnesota to replacing him with NBA 6th Man of the Year, Naz Reid, who stepped in to score 14 in the fourth quarter to help the Timberwolves keep their lead.
“It will be a quick exit if we allow four guys to get off like that…I don’t think we had what we needed to have tonight, and I’ll leave it at that,” head coach Michael Malone said. “There’s a reason they were in first place for a large majority of the season.”
Nikola Jokic led Denver with a team-high 32 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists.
Game 2 is scheduled for 8 p.m. (MT) Monday at Ball Arena.
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