04/21/26 01:43:00
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04/21 01:41 CDT Edwards and Randle rally Timberwolves past Nuggets 119-114 to
even series at 1 apiece
Edwards and Randle rally Timberwolves past Nuggets 119-114 to even series at 1
apiece
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer
DENVER (AP) --- A big early deficit in Denver didn't bother the Minnesota
Timberwolves, who two years ago staged the biggest Game 7 comeback in NBA
history, clawing out of a 20-point hole to beat the Nuggets and advance to the
Western Conference finals.
This time, they overcame a 19-point deficit, rallying past the Nuggets 119-114
on Monday night behind 30 points from Anthony Edwards and 24 from Julius Randle
to tie their first-round playoff series at one game each.
"Just coming together, staying poised within those moments," Edwards said.
Jamal Murray scored 30 points for Denver, which had won 13 straight games since
losing on March 18. The Nuggets jumped out to a 44-25 lead early in the second
quarter only to see a potential laugher quickly turn into a head-scratcher.
After outscoring the Wolves 39-25 in the first, the Nuggets watched Minnesota
flip that exact score in the second period.
"So, basically same quarters, first and second, just opposite teams," said
Nikola Jokic, who had 24 points, 15 boards and eight assists for the Nuggets.
After a slow start, Edwards looked much better than he did during his 22-point
effort in Game 1, when his rust from a bum knee was apparent. This time, he
drove to the basket more instead of settling for jumpers, fueling the comeback.
"He was awesome. It was unbelievable," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
"Also in that (first) period when we were down, he was great on the bench.
Great leadership, positive. He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and
get downhill a little bit more. He did that."
Denver blew a chance to take control against its Northwest Division rival. The
Nuggets are 8-0 in their history when winning the first two games of a playoff
series, and the Wolves are 0-8 when dropping Games 1 and 2.
Edwards turned the ball over with 31 seconds left and Christian Braun got
fouled at the other end after Jokic passed up a floater to tie it. Braun missed
one of two free throws, leaving Denver trailing 115-114 with 19 seconds
remaining.
Randle then sank two free throws and Donte DiVincenzo added a breakaway dunk to
cap the comeback.
"I trust C.B. to make free throws," Denver coach David Adelman said. "It rimmed
out. That happens in the NBA. You're going to have moments that you don't want
to remember. That's a tough moment for C.B. after playing such a good game."
Murray sank a 51-foot 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to tie it at 64. Jokic
came on strong after a quiet start, scoring 16 points in the third quarter when
Denver took a 93-90 lead. But the Nuggets' All-Star duo shot a combined 2 for
12 in the fourth quarter as the Wolves evened a best-of-seven series that
shifts to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Thursday night.
"I feel like we had the game in hand," Murray said, "and then we just didn't
make our shots."
Jaden McDaniels, who added 14 points for the Wolves, said the key to
Minnesota's bounce-back was going "after Jokic, Jamal, all the bad defenders.
Tim Hardaway, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, the whole team, just go at them. Yeah,
they're all bad defenders."
Before tipoff, Finch complained for a third straight day about the free-throw
disparity in Game 1, when the Nuggets outscored Minnesota 30-14 from the
stripe. He cracked that maybe his players need to "start flopping, too."
Each team went to the line 30 times Monday night.
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