The Denver Nuggets lost 106-99 on Saturday night to the Minnesota Timberwolves to drop Game 1 of the series.

Anthony Edwards was spectacular with 43 points, going 17-of-29 from the field, 3-of-7 from three, and only 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Edwards was handing out buckets to every Nugget that tried to guard him, and the Nuggets clearly had no answer.

This was evident from the get-go. Edwards had 13 of the Wolves’ first 18 points and shot the ball extremely efficiently. He got wherever he wanted to go, and his scoring combined with stifling Wolves defense helped Minnesota jump out to an 18-4 start out of the gate.

The Nuggets bounced back immediately after that though, closing the quarter on a 21-5 run led by the offense of Reggie Jackson and the defense of Justin Holiday off the bench. Those guys settled down the Nuggets starters and helped Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. get going offensively as well.

Both defenses were great in the first half, and the Nuggets ultimately took a 44-40 lead into halftime. Where the game changed was in the third quarter. The Wolves outscored the Nuggets 33 to 27 out of the break, led by Karl-Anthony Towns (20 points) and Mike Conley (14 points, 10 assists). The Nuggets couldn’t get a handle on the Wolves defensively, and even though the Nuggets started to score a bit more too, they couldn’t slow down Minnesota once they got rolling.

“We played no defense in the third,” Michael Malone shared postgame. “You can’t just trade baskets with that team.”

Jamal Murray found his shot in the fourth quarter with 10 points in a short amount of time, after starting the game poorly. He finished with 17 points despite scoring zero points (!) in the first half. Ultimately, it was his defense that was the biggest issue for Denver though. The Wolves attacked Murray in space and on pick and rolls, and Conley was very good in his minutes against Murray, outplaying the Nuggets star point guard.

Nikola Jokic had 32 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, but it came on 11-of-25 from the field, 2-of-9 from three, and included seven turnovers. The Wolves made the Nuggets superstar big man uncomfortable throughout the evening. Naz Reid got away with some serious physicality against him in the fourth quarter, and that may have disrupted his rhythm a bit. The T’Wolves also played strong defense on him throughout the evening, and that more than anything probably threw Jokic off.

Ultimately, it was Edwards and Naz Reid that closed the game in clutch time. Reid had 10 points in roughly two minutes of play between drives to the rim and three-pointers off kick out passes from guards. Then, Edwards shut the door with eight points in the final three minutes to prevent any sort of comeback from Denver.

This game was a stark reminder that Anthony Edwards is capable of being the best player in the series. The Timberwolves are built to play defense against the Nuggets with length and athleticism to bother both Jokic and Murray, as well as the actions they like to run. The Nuggets, while they have a strong team defense, are not built to deal with Edwards. They’re built to handle smaller guards and bigger forwards. Edwards is a tank that can move and shake at the speed of sound, and his jumper is so good now that there’s no sagging off of him and “daring him to beat you with jumpers.” He will beat you. He will take your soul.

“Any good team has multiple weapons. one thing that makes us successful is that when teams double Joker, we’ve got capable guys that can make shots,” Porter shared postgame. “Similar with them, if you double Ant, you may be swinging the ball to KAT or Mike Conley or Jaden McDaniels. All capable guys. It’s definitely a balance, and it’s something we’ve gotta look at on film.”

The Nuggets are going to have to find a way to beat the coverage the Wolves are throwing at Jokic. The Wolves are daring him to go into the post 1-on-1 against either Karl-Anthony Towns or Naz Reid while Gobert picks and chooses when to provide help. They are trying to force Jamal Murray to give up the ball in pick and roll and then recover to Jokic accordingly. They know that if nobody can really get going for the Nuggets outside of Jokic, then the Wolves will live with Jokic shooting 11-of-25.

That’s the way to beat the Nuggets. Denver now drops to 4-14 in Jokic’s playoff career when he attempts 25+ shots.

It will be interesting to see how the Nuggets bounce back in Game 2. There are things they can do differently in their coverages against Anthony Edwards. They might even have one of Justin Holiday or Christian Braun spend more time guarding him in Game 2, both of whom had a bit more success staying in front of him and contesting shots. Could that mean changing up Denver’s starting or closing lineups? Probably not the former…but it’s possible Denver closes with a different wing defender on Edwards next time around.

Whatever the case, Game 1 was eye opening from the Wolves. They are here. They are ready to go. They came into Denver and immediately punched the Nuggets in the mouth, then they weathered Denver’s clutch storm and offered up an avalanche of their own.

“We know this team is very good, and it’s going to be a long series, and it’s going to be a good series,” Porter emphasized. “We’ve just gotta get the next one.”

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