NBA playoffs: Timberwolves climb out of 19-point hole to knock off Nuggets, even series

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Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves are still standing.

The Timberwolves, despite falling into a 19-point hole early at Ball Arena on Monday night, rallied back to knock off the Denver Nuggets 119-114. That evened up their opening-round playoff series, which has easily been the most competitive across the league so far this postseason, as it heads to Minneapolis for the first time later this week.

It also ensured that the Timberwolves had a legitimate shot to advance into the next round. The franchise, which has been to the Western Conference finals in back-to-back seasons now, has never successfully climbed out of an 0-2 series hole.

“It’s 1-1, there’s no driver’s seat,” Edwards said on NBC. “We’re going home. We’ve got an advantage at home. Hopefully our fans rattle them a little bit when they come to our crib. We’ll be ready.”

TWolves rally after rough start

The Nuggets almost ended things in the first quarter.

Denver opened the night on a 44-25 tear and simply overpowered Minnesota on both sides of the ball. The Timberwolves just looked out of it.

But, of course, that didn’t hold. The Timberwolves started clawing back and should have held the lead at halftime if Murray didn’t somehow sink an absolutely wild shot from the far side of the logo to close out the second period.

Nikola Jokić, who was slow offensively in the first 24 minutes, took off in the third quarter and kept the Nuggets in it as the battle ensued. He dropped 16 points in that period alone, yet the Timberwolves just never went away.

They eventually took the lead back late in the fourth quarter, thanks to a dunk from Jaden McDaniels and a fastbreak layup from Donte DiVincenzo — both of which came after missed buckets from Jokić in the paint.

That was a brutal trend for the Nuggets, who managed just one made field goal over a nearly five-minute span before Aaron Gordon drilled a 3-pointer with 78 seconds on the clock. That brought Denver back within one. Jokić threw down a dunk over Rudy Gobert to keep them in it later, too.

While Murray had a look at a bucket to send the game into overtime, he was off the mark and allowed DiVincenzo one last easy dunk for good measure to seal the five-point win.

Murray led the Nuggets with 30 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in the loss. It marked his second straight 30-point night, and the 21st 30-point playoff outing of his career. Jokić finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. The duo went just 2-of-13 from the field in the final 12 minutes, however, which left the door wide open for the Timberwolves.

Anthony Edwards had 30 points and 10 rebounds of his own to lead the Timberwolves. Julius Randle added 24 points and nine rebounds, and DiVincenzo finished with 16 points.

Had Denver successfully ran away with the contest and picked up a blowout win on Monday night, it very easily could have ended the series. But now, thanks to a huge finish from the Timberwolves, it’s still very much up for grabs entering the Target Center on Thursday night.

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