Minnesota Timberwolves Avoid Sweep By Denver Nuggets

MINNEAPOLIS -- Anthony Edwards wasn't ready for his season to be over. And he certainly wasn't ready for the Denver Nuggets to send the Minnesota Timberwolves packing without winning a game in their first-round series.

With their backs against the wall, the eighth-seeded Timberwolves took down the top-seeded Nuggets 114-108 in overtime to avoid the sweep and send the series back to Denver with the Nuggets leading 3-1.

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It looked like the Timberwolves were going to cruise to victory late in the game as they took a 12-point lead on an Edwards jumper with 2:52 remaining, drawing a timeout from Nuggets coach Michael Malone.

From there, Denver finished regulation on a 12-0 run to send the game to overtime and quiet the Target Center faithful.

The Nuggets hit three consecutive 3-pointers -- one by Nikola Jokic and two from Michael Porter Jr. -- and then Jokic hit a jumper in the lane with 48.9 seconds left to cut Minnesota's advantage to 96-95. With 12.7 seconds left, Jokic was fouled and hit one of two free throws to tie the game.

Edwards had a chance to win the game in regulation but was stripped by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as he rose for a shot in the final seconds. a midrange 2-point attempt -- before also missing the potential game-winner at the end of regulation.

Edwards hit both of his shots in the overtime period, with both coming at big moments. First, he hit a layup with 1:29 left to stretch Minnesota's lead to seven. But after the Nuggets scored on three consecutive possessions, the Wolves were again staring down a potential meltdown.

Despite missing all three of his 3-point attempts to that point, Alexander-Walker came through with two back-to-back corner 3s in overtime to give Minnesota the lead and then push it to five.

It was Edwards' fifth 30-point game in those 10 games. The only player with more 30-point playoff performances at age 21 or younger is James. Edwards broke a tie with Kobe Bryant with four.