Minnesota Timberwolves keep their season alive with Game 4 thriller win against the Denver Nuggets as Anthony Edwards sinks the 3-pointer under pressure to seal the 114-108 victory in overtime
- Minnesota Timberwolves kept their season going with a thrilling overtime victory
- Anthony Edwards played for the winning game on Sunday, but Nuggets led 3-1
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Anthony Edwards scored 34 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves kept their season alive with a dramatic 114-108 overtime win against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.
Nikola Jokic tied a playoff career high with 43 points and added 11 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets, who were looking for the four-game sweep. They now have a 3-1 lead in the series.
Edwards dropped a massive three-pointer with less than 13 seconds left in overtime with his side one-for-one to seal the victory.
Rudy Gobert added 14 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota, which held on after Denver scored the final 12 points of regulation to force overtime. Mike Conley had 19 points for the Timberwolves.
Game 5 is Tuesday in Denver.
Anthony Edwards dropped a huge three-pointer with less than 13 seconds left in overtime
Edwards celebrates after capturing dramatic 114-108 overtime win in Game 4 against Denver
Jamal Murray finished with 19 points and Aaron Gordon with 14 for Denver, which looked excellent to get a chance to rest for the second round, where it would meet the Suns-Clippers series winner, who defeated Phoenix leading 3-1.
Edwards, who posted several exciting moments in his first All-Star season, revived Minnesota in the third as the Timberwolves went on a 23-9 run.
Edwards scored 16 of his runs in the quarter and the Timberwolves eventually led with 12 midway through the fourth.
Minnesota lost to Memphis in the first round last year and relinquished a three-double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.
This time Jokic took another lead from Wolves.
Edwards, 21, took a step forward this year as Towns missed 52 games with a calf injury.
He took over the scoring burden for Minnesota and was supported by his veteran teammates, who begged the athletic youngster to take over the lead in games.
The Nuggets were forced into a fifth game, but they still look like a team ready for a long playoff run. They may also have found an answer to their biggest problem: surviving when two-time MVP Jokic isn’t on the floor.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic tied a playoff career high with 43 points, but his team lost on Sunday
With Gordon playing reserve center minutes, the Nuggets not only survived, they defeated Minnesota without Jokic by six points.
Edwards cleared a step-back jumper with 2:52 left in regulation to give the Wolves a 96-84 lead, their biggest of the game, and he smiled to the crowd as the Nuggets called timeout.
Denver, however, was not done yet. Jokic hit the first of three three-pointers in a row, followed by a pair from Porter.
Conley tried to pass to Gobert in lane, but the big man couldn’t catch him in traffic and the Nuggets turned the ball into a jumper from Jokic that cut the lead to one point with 49 seconds remaining.
Gobert was overrun again on Minnesota’s next possession and his shot was blocked by Porter.
Jokic was fouled by Towns at the other end and made one of two free throws to tie the game with 12 seconds remaining.
Edwards had the ball at the end for the potential game winner, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knocked it out of his hands before he could shoot.