Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been compared to Michael Jordan after some outstanding playoff performances. Today we will discuss about Anthony Edwards: Reggie Jackson on his knees,Jamal Murray Throws.
Anthony Edwards: Reggie Jackson on his knees,Jamal Murray Throws
The Minnesota Timberwolves stunned the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 victory in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series at Ball Arena on Monday. Minnesota won each of the first two contests on the road and now has a 2-0 lead and a chance to win the series in the next two games at home.
And it won Game 2 without its defensive anchor as Rudy Gobert was out for personal reasons due to the birth of his first child.
Anthony Edwards (27 points and seven assists on 11 of 17 shooting from the field) and Karl-Anthony Towns (27 points and 12 rebounds on 10 of 15 shooting from the field) helped make up for their absence, while Minnesota’s The defense maintained the rhythm from the beginning.
Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, but Jamal Murray went 3 of 18 from the field, while the Nuggets faced criticism for their performance overall:
All the pressure was on Denver as the Timberwolves had already stolen home-court advantage with a Game 1 win. That the visitors were playing without Gobert made it feel like a win was a must for a Nuggets team that suffered a playoff series loss for the first time since 2022.
And Denver crumbled under that pressure.
Minnesota stunned the crowd by taking a commanding 26-point lead at halftime, with Towns and Edwards leading the way as expected. However, it was far from just the stars, as the Timberwolves’ team defense pressured everyone except Aaron Gordon in the first half and turned Jokic into a turnover machine multiple times.
Frustration was the prevalent theme for Denver, to the extent that Murray even threw a heat pack onto the court from the bench while the game was going on:
It’s been a long time since the second half of a Nuggets playoff game was largely a formality since they were trailing so much. But that was the reality on Monday, a testament to Minnesota’s incredible performance and Jokic and Co. looking uncharacteristically terrible.
Even as the home team picked up some momentum in the fourth quarter.
Reggie Jackson on his knees
The Timberwolves finished it with an eight-point lead.
The Nuggets are a defensive team led by the projected MVP.
And faced with playoff-level physicality, they collapsed.
Minnesota 106, Denver 80.
And, actually—it wasn’t that close.
This was not a game. This was a message. It was George Foreman-Joe Frazier. Mike Tyson-Trevor Berbick. Rocky Balboa-Clubber Lang. A Denver team hasn’t faced this kind of pressure since the last time the Broncos held the Dolphins to 70 points.
Minnesota didn’t just come to win. The Timberwolves came to beat.
“We got beat in our building,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We were embarrassed in front of our fans.”
“After that first quarter there was basically only one team on the field,” Nikola Jokic said.
Jokic was bad. The two-time MVP, who barring a surprise, will take home a third trophy in the coming days, was threatened. He was 5 of 13 from the floor. He missed his only three. They committed four turnovers, all in the first half, when Denver scored only 35 points. Gobert’s absence – he missed Game 2 due to the birth of his first child – opened the door to a breakout performance. Instead, Jokic failed.
Jamal was even worse when he died. He was 3rd out of 18 on floor. He was 0-4 from three. For 36 grueling minutes, Minnesota harassed him with big, long bodies. Edwards. Nichelle Alexander-Walker. Jaden McDaniels. He put full pressure on the court. They hurt him when he attacked the rim. He looked frustrated when Alexander-Walker and McDaniels attacked him during one possession in the first half. He repeatedly bounced onto Alexander-Walker’s chest as he tried to go off the dribble, making him look defeated.
“We’ve had some really good defensive efforts this year,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “But it has to be right up there with the best of them.”
Instead of focusing on Minnesota, Murray focused on the officials. He clapped. He shouted. He raised his hands in frustration. he looked terrible.
Jamal Murray Throws
Edwards’ upside during the 2024 NBA Playoffs has been undeniable. The former No. 1 overall prospect by 247Sports in the 2019 recruiting cycle and the top pick in the 2020 NBA Draft from Georgia is in his fourth season in the NBA. Edwards is moving up the all-time No. 1 overall recruiting leaderboard because of his performance in the postseason — he had 27 points Monday night. Edwards is part of the new guard of young talent taking over the NBA postseason and establishing himself as one of the faces of the league moving forward.
In Game 1 against the Nuggets, Edwards scored 43 points and became the fourth player in NBA history to have three consecutive playoff games with at least 35 points. Edwards joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Edwards joined Bryant as the only players in NBA playoff history with back-to-back 40-point games at age 22 or younger.
In the 247Sports era (2010–), Edwards is one of five former top recruits who were selected No. 1 in their respective drafts, joining Anthony Davis, Andrew Wiggins, Ben Simmons, and Cade Cunningham. Edwards, Davis and Simmons are the only players to have already been named multi-time All-Stars.
Edwards’ path from top recruit to NBA superstar was anything but traditional. Edwards reclassified from the 2020 cycle to join Georgia at the start of one season in what would become the star-crossed 2019 class. Edwards averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists during the 2019–20 season at Georgia, which was shortened due to COVID-19.
Evan Daniels, then-247Sports director of scouting, said, “Ant’s natural scoring ability, combined with his physical attributes, well-rounded skill set and long-term progression make him a special prospect.”
During the pre-draft process in 2020, there were question marks over his desire to play basketball. Edwards was a Pop Warner Football star in his younger days and expressed his hopes of one day playing in the NFL before the start of the 2023–24 NBA season.
