Conley, Edwards lead surging Timberwolves past Nuggets 111-98, into 1st-place tie in West

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Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets

DENVER (AP) — This is why Glen Taylor doesn’t want to let go of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Anthony Edwards scored 25 points and Mike Conley added 23 in Minnesota’s 111-98 rout of Denver on Friday night that sent the Timberwolves into a first-place tie in the Western Conference – and the defending NBA champion Nuggets into third place.

“There’s a lot of resilience to this team,” T-Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “We’ve been very tough-minded all season. Our goal remains to play our best basketball heading into the playoffs. If that allows us to finish first, second or third, whatever, that’s what it is. But we’ve got a lot of big games coming up against teams that are playing for a lot, as well.

“So, this was exactly the test that we need coming down the stretch.”

The Nuggets (51-23) failed to reach 100 points for the second straight game and fell a-half game behind the Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who easily handled Phoenix 125-108 on Friday night.

The Nuggets were without star point guard Jamal Murray (ankle, knee) for a fourth consecutive game, and once again their lack of depth was exposed as their bench provided very little help in Denver’s second straight loss at home.

Nobody missed Murray more than MVP favorite Nikola Jokic, who had consecutive cringing turnovers to end the third quarter and missed 11 of his first 17 shots against Minnesota’s pestering double teams before rallying to finish with 32 points despite playing with a sore shooting wrist.

“I was surprised he played tonight, to be quite honest,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “His wrist has really been giving him a lot of trouble, and Nikola is a guy who plays through a lot of things that most guys wouldn’t play through.”

Malone also said Murray apologized to him for his absence, “and I said, ‘Don’t apologize. You’re not trying to be hurt. And your health is more important than a win right now.’

“Because, as I’ve said many times, I have complete confidence that that group regardless of seed can beat anybody anywhere when we’re healthy,” Malone added. “Because we’ve done…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/conley-edwards-lead-surging-timberwolves-145355901.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-03-30 14:53:55

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