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Anthony Edwards missed a game-tying 3 in Tuesday night's marquee matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. It was surprisingly a close contest despite the Timberwolves missing their frontline of Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid with injuries.
Meanwhile, Kyle Anderson, who started at center, was in foul trouble early. The Timberwolves trailed by 18 points in the first half as expected. It seemingly felt like a blowout was imminent, but the Timberwolves leaned on their defense and transition scoring to turn things around.
In the third quarter, they outscored the Nuggets 29-17 to cut the lead to three points. They kept chipping away in the fourth, completing the turnaround with a 92-89 lead with seven minutes left.
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However, Minnesota, playing on the second night of a back-to-back with so many injury absences, eventually ran out of steam in the clutch. Denver pulled away with three minutes left. It took an eight-point lead with 1:45 left after Nikola Jokic's 3.
The Timberwolves played chase from that point on, but the Nuggets kept making their free throws, canceling Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniel's clutch 3-pointers, making it a one-point game with six seconds.
Jamal Murray iced two free throws after that, stretching the lead to three before Anthony Edwards missed a wide-open 3 at the buzzer, leaving it short.
Nevertheless, it was a solid effort from Edwards to keep this a close game as he tallied his fourth consecutive 30-point game. Edwards also tallied eight rebounds and eight assists, while shooting 50.0%. Meanwhile, Jaden McDaniels stepped up on offense with a 26-point outing, going 9 of 13, including 4 of 6 from 3. Mike Conley, Luka Garza and Kyle Anderson also chipped in with 10+ points.
On the other hand, Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets' charge with a 35-point, 16-rebound game as he feasted on the Timberwolves' depleted frontline. Michael Porter Jr. played an excellent cameo, with 26 points on 60.0% shooting, and Jamal Murray finished with 18 points and 11 assists.
Anthony Edwards and Timberwolves prove mettle with encouraging fightback in loss
Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves have turned a corner this year, storming at the top of the West standings. They are 47-22, third in the conference, with a legitimate shot at claiming the top seed.
Despite a failed comeback on Tuesday vs. the Nuggets, the stellar effort proved Minnesota is among the top-tier contender teams or at least, the biggest threat to Denver in the West. No other team has matched this well against Denver, with a depleted roster.
The Timberwolves also have a 110-89 win against the defending champs, which came back in November, when both teams were healthy.
The West favorites still have two games left this season to decide the season series.
