Edwards Spurs Timberwolves' Comeback, Defeats Nuggets 98-90 in Game 7

Anthony Edwards led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a stunning comeback victory, overcoming a 20-point deficit to defeat the Denver Nuggets 98-90 in Game 7 on Sunday night.

Facing a 15-point halftime deficit, the Timberwolves mounted the largest comeback in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history. Edwards, who had only four points, no rebounds, and three assists by halftime, ended the game with 16 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Despite shooting 6-of-24 from the field and 2-of-10 from three-point range, Edwards made crucial plays down the stretch.

“It was tough, man, because I couldn't find myself, my rhythm tonight,” Edwards said. “So I just had to trust my teammates. … I just had to make the right plays throughout the rest of the game. I did that and my teammates made shots. Big shout-out to those guys.”

Edwards also played a key role on defense, particularly against Jamal Murray. Murray, who had 24 points at halftime, finished with 35 but was effectively contained in the second half.

“There's more ways to win the basketball game when you're just not an offensive player,” Edwards said. “I'm not one-dimensional. I'm not just a guy who can score. I'm a guy who — whoever their best guard is, I can go lock him down. I feel like I did that on Jamal in the fourth quarter — in the third quarter and fourth quarter — and that's what turned the game around.”

In the closing moments, Edwards waved to the crowd at Ball Arena, where the Nuggets had one of the best home records in the league but lost three times to the Timberwolves in this series.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaden McDaniels each scored 23 points, helping the Timberwolves advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 20 years. They will face the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night at Target Center.

“It feels great,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “Beating a team like they are, an incredible team, a championship team, with the best player in the world, it feels good.”

The Nuggets built a 53-38 halftime lead and extended it to 58-38 early in the third quarter with a three-pointer from Murray. However, the Timberwolves' top-ranked defense fueled a 28-9 run, bringing the score to 67-66 by the end of the third quarter.

Gobert's basket early in the fourth gave Minnesota its first lead since the first quarter. When Towns fouled out, Naz Reid, the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, stepped up with key contributions on both ends of the floor.

In a decisive stretch with Minnesota leading 85-82, Reid added two free throws, a dunk, and assisted Edwards on a three-pointer, pushing the lead to 92-82 with three minutes remaining.

Murray finished with 35 points on 13-of-27 shooting, and Nikola Jokic added 34 points and 19 rebounds, but the Nuggets received little support from other players, as no one else scored in double digits.

“So much was being placed on their shoulders,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We're expecting Jokic and Jamal to continue pulling rabbits out of their hat, man, and somebody else has got to give some help.”

This marked the Timberwolves' first Game 7 win since beating Sacramento 20 years ago. The Nuggets, playing in their fifth Game 7 in six seasons, fell short of reaching their third conference finals in that span.

“That was a hell of a series,” Malone said. “They gave us all we could handle and they ended up winning Game 7 on our home court, which is a tough one to swallow. But we'll be back.”

The Nuggets became the fifth straight defending champion to miss the conference finals, a feat last achieved by Golden State in 2019.

“The one thing I keep on going back to right now is I consider the San Antonio Spurs a dynasty and they never won back-to-back,” Malone said. “So losing, the hurt of it, the pain of it, it helped us win our first championship. Can we use this year?”

Murray believes they can.

“For sure,” he said. “It's back to being the hunter.”