Anthony Edwards caught the ball out near midcourt, both feet firmly planted on the logo.
Jamal Murray dropped way back. Denver was getting killed by Edwards all day. There was no sense in trying to contest the 23-year-old that far out from the hoop.
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With no one around him, Edwards decided to rise up and fire.
Splash.
What better way to become the franchise’s all-time leader in 3-point makes? Edwards now has 976 for his career, one more than Karl-Anthony Towns made in a Timberwolves’ jersey.
It was that kind of day for Minnesota, which trounced Denver 133-104 in one of the Wolves’ most impressive performances of the season.
Edwards finished with 34 points and nine assists. As has been the case in recent history, the Nuggets didn’t have an answer for the star guard. If they overcommitted resources, someone else made Denver pay. If the Nuggets allowed Edwards space to cook, he cooked.
As a team, Minnesota made 56% from the field and 47% from deep. Seven players scored in double figures. The Wolves dropped 40 points in the first frame alone.
Twice this season they’ve beaten Denver. Minnesota has been stellar offensively on both occasions. It all stems from Edwards. Denver simply doesn’t have an answer for the guard. The Nuggets don’t have a premier perimeter defender to deter Edwards, nor do they have a rim protector to make him think twice about being aggressive.
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So, the Nuggets either have to sell out with Edwards, or roll the dice. Edwards correctly diagnosed Denver’s approach and attacked accordingly. No matter what the Nuggets did, Edwards exploited the plan’s weakness.
In the first quarter, that meant using his gravity against Denver, which created opportunities for others. At the end of the frame, Edwards strung out a pick and roll, dragging multiple defenders with him on the perimeter before zipping a pass down low for an easy Rudy Gobert finish.
“Heck of a pass,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “That’s the type of connectivity that we’ve not always had this season.”
As the game wore on, Denver’s defense loosened. By the third quarter, Nikola Jokic — who simply cannot expend the consistent energy needed to defend Edwards at the level of the screen — started to drift back further and further into the paint on pick and rolls, which allowed Edwards to fire away freely. That led to a couple of drained triples that got the Target Center crowd on its feet.
“As the game goes on, you know he plays a lot of minutes,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said of Jokic. “We all have been there, and you get tired. So the more you run those pick and rolls and keep him active in them, the more chances you get breakdowns, the more chances you get Ant getting downhill (and) Julius, whoever has the ball, creating good situations for us.”
When Edwards is that patient within the game and reads it to the degree he did, Conley said Minnesota “can play at a whole different level.”
“I think it allows the other guys on the court to find a good rhythm, specifically early in the game where you get guys some easy looks, easy baskets,” Conley said. “I think that gives people confidence moving forward, and Ant’s doing a good job of just finding guys when it’s available, and splitting that with finding his opportunities offensively.”
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And that’s what could allow Minnesota’s offense to ascend toward the top-10 level the Wolves envisioned at the season’s outset.
“If he continues to see that they won’t double me the whole game if I get off the ball a little bit quicker, or make an early read where my teammate can make a play, now I can finally show what I can do. He’s going to continue to be able to do that,” Conley said, “continue to be comfortable and continue to be patient, so hopefully he just keeps building that momentum, and our team will be a lot better for it.”
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