Anthony Edwards led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 106-80 beatdown of the Denver Nuggets on Monday night that gave the Timberwolves a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals over the reigning NBA champions.
Edwards finished the game with 27 points for the Timberwolves, and even received ”MVP’ chants in Ball Arena, the Nuggets’ home court:
The Timberwolves jumped on the Nuggets early even though their starting center Rudy Gobert was back home in Minneapolis attending the birth of his son Sunday. But they didn’t need Gobert’s defensive prowess in order to suffocate the Nuggets’ offense to the tune of 80 points.
Trailing 61-35 at the break, the Nuggets’ 26-point halftime deficit was Denver’s largest in a home playoff game in franchise history.
The Timberwolves led 82-60 after three quarters and cruised the rest of the way.
Edwards continues his ascent as one of the brightest young stars in the NBA. While all NBA players are compared to those that came before them, Edwards’ comparison has suddenly become none other than the one and only Michael Jordan. The similarities between Edwards’ game at 22 years old and Jordan’s when he was early in his career with the Chicago Bulls are eerily comparable. This is especially true given what the young All-Star has achieved at this point in the playoffs with the Timberwolves.
However, Edwards is not painting his own narrative and is not embracing these comparisons to who many deem the greatest basketball player that has ever lived. While everyone wants to keep calling him this generation’s Jordan, Edwards wants these conversations to end.
“I want it to stop,” Edwards told Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports. “He’s the greatest of all time. I can’t be compared to him.”
While he may not be on Jordan’s level at this point, Edwards and the Timberwolves are emerging as a force to be reckoned with in the NBA Playoffs. There’s still a lot of series to be played, but right now Minnesota has the defending champion Denver Nuggets on the ropes. Down 2-0 before even heading out on the road, the Nuggets have so far shown no ability to get anything going against the Wolves’ elite defense.
Game 3 between the two teams is Friday from Minnesota.
