Anthony Edwards takes it personally as Minnesota Timberwolves hold off Denver Nuggets in OT, survive another day in NBA play-offs
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Denver Nuggets Jamal Murray (right) and Minnesota Timberwolves Nickeil Alexander-Walker during the 2023 NBA play-offs at the Target Centre.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MINNEAPOLIS – Anthony Edwards scored 34 points as he “took it personally” not to get swept as his Minnesota Timberwolves avoided elimination on Sunday night in Minneapolis. They beat the Denver Nuggets 114-108 in overtime in Game 4 of their first-round Western Conference play-off series.
The top-seeded Nuggets lead the series 3-1 and will again try to eliminate the eighth-seeded Timberwolves in Game 5 on Tuesday night in Denver.
Edwards told ESPN: “I don’t ever want to say I got swept in my career. So I definitely took it personally tonight.”
Mike Conley added 19 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out for Minnesota. Rudy Gobert chipped in 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Kyle Anderson scored 11 points. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored six points in overtime.
Nikola Jokic had 43 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Nuggets. Jamal Murray scored 19 points, Michael Porter Jr notched 15 and Aaron Gordon finished with 14.
Edwards made a jumper that gave Minnesota a 96-84 lead with 2:52 left in the fourth quarter, but Porter made two threes and Jokic added six points to comprise a 12-0 run that pulled the Nuggets even at 96 with 12.7 seconds left.
Minnesota had a chance to win, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope blocked Edwards as he attempted a jumper in the final second.
Conley told ESPN: “At that point, it was like (there’s) nothing we can do about the last two minutes. But we can control the next five. Let’s come out here as a group and lock back in on what we did to get that lead.”
Jokic had four points and an assist to help Denver take a 102-101 lead in overtime, but Alexander-Walker, who had missed all three of his three-point attempts in regulation, made consecutive treys to start an 8-0 run that gave Minnesota a 109-102 lead with 1:29 left to play.
Murray had two baskets and Jokic one as the Nuggets got to within one point, but Edwards made a three with 11.5 seconds left to seal the victory.
He said: “I wasn’t passing the ball. I was taking the shot. I was going to live with whether I lost us the game or we won. And I ended up hitting the shot.”
Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 31 points to lead the visiting Boston Celtics to a 129-121 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 4 of their first-round Eastern Conference play-off series on Sunday night.
Second-seeded Boston led by five points after three quarters and outscored seventh-seeded Atlanta 37-34 in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead in the series.
REUTERS
