MINNEAPOLIS – With the clock winding down on the Minnesota Timberwolves' 115-107 Game 4 loss to the Denver Nuggets, ending a disastrous homestand during which the Wolves gave back a two-game lead in the Western Conference semifinals that they had built on the defending champions. — Anthony Edwards seemed more defiant than defeated.
As the 22-year-old star exchanged addresses with Denver's Jamal Murray near the bench, Edwards applauded, nodded his head and kept his gaze on the Nuggets point guard as he delivered a message.
“I just told him we love that,” said Edwards, who scored a game-high 44 points in Sunday's outing. “'Keep talking [like] that. That's what we like.' Well, I loved it. He didn't answer anything. But I'm pretty sure he heard me. They heard me. You live for that.”
Edwards made a lot of noise with his play before that, surpassing the 40-point mark for the second time in the series and the third time this postseason when he went 16 of 25 from the field (64%), 5 of 25. 8 of 3 (62.5%) and 7 of 8 from the foul line (87.5%) in Game 4.
The rest of his team combined to shoot 40.4% overall, 30% on three-pointers and 57.9% on free throws.
The Wolves now return to Denver with the series tied 2-2.
Murray, who scored 13 of his 19 points from the last two seconds of the first half to the first 4½ minutes of the third quarter, including a 3-pointer from 55 feet to end the second quarter, had no comment on the exchange with Edwards.
But Murray talked about the challenge of containing the Wolves guard, who is averaging 33.3 points on 60.4% shooting through the first four games of this second-round series.
“It's downhill, it's hard to defend, it's explosive,” Murray said. “He's always in attack mode, you know what I'm saying? So, I think we can do a better job giving him a little attention.”
As Edwards confronted Murray, the Wolves guard consoled teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, who was just 1-for-10 in the first half en route to a 5-for-18 performance. Towns scored just 13 points, while that Nuggets big men Nikola Jokic (35 points on 15-of-26 shooting from the field) and Aaron Gordon (27 points on 11-of-12 shooting) had monster nights.
“He's a superstar,” Edwards said of Towns. “He gets paid to put the ball in the hoop. I always tell him, 'Never stop shooting the ball because you missed five or six. I don't give a damn. For us to win, we have to need you to score.' I'm happy he was aggressive all night. I guess it's a win for us tonight.
Even with encouraging words from Edwards and an improvement in the second half, Towns couldn't hide his disappointment.
“Things weren't falling today,” Towns said. “I take responsibility for that. I know I worked, so I feel good about the work I did. Obviously, it shows in these playoffs. It's unfortunate that on Mother's Day I have a shooting performance like that. But it's the how the game goes. Sometimes it's not a fun game.”
Towns' mother, Jackie Cruz-Towns, died from complications of COVID-19 in April 2020.
As the oldest member of the Wolves, selected by the franchise with the first pick in 2015, Towns has experienced far more disappointment on the court than losing two games in a row in the playoffs. In three of its first eight seasons in the league, Minnesota won fewer than 30 games before posting 56 wins this season to earn third place in the West.
“We just have to stay connected in this locker room,” Towns said. “Even through the good and the bad, we are always together and we always support each other in the brotherhood that we have built here… But now it is a test. And we must be willing to show the work that we have done.” “Our friendships and our relationships on this team, and that work that we've put in all year is going to come down to whether we find a way to win this series together or find ourselves on the wrong side of history.”
If Edwards' attitude at the end of Game 4 was any indicator, there is at least one Wolves player who is unfazed by the fact that Denver is making things difficult.
“I don't think they had any momentum,” Edwards said of the Nuggets. “We won two games. They won two games. At this point, whoever wins two [more] games. I don't know how people see it, but I see it as if I were happy. I'm ready.
“It's competing at the highest level. I smile because I'm happy. I'm ready to play. If we played tomorrow, I'd be ready. It's going to be fun.”
