Wolves were built to stop Nuggets, but can Denver slow Edwards?

DENVER—Tim Connelly assembled a group that could finally bring down the monster he himself made, that much was evident from the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-99 win in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets.

The years-long question of stopping a healthy Nuggets group has been tried to solve in many ways. Attacking Nikola Jokic, spacing the MVP out, out-scoring the high-powered offense and more. Former Nuggets GM and now in the same role with the Wolves, Connelly, opted for size. And the bigs were big in the first 48 of the 2024 series with soon-to-be four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert slowing Jokic to 32 points on 25 shots with nine rebounds and eight assists while throwing seven turnovers. Gobert only scored six points but grabbed 13 boards as the Wolves out-glassed Denver by eight.

The Nuggets are now just 4-14 in playoff games when Joker takes more than 25 shots.

“They have a couple of guys that tend to dig and dig and rotate,” Jokic said. “They are long, they’re physical, they’re making you make or take tough shots. Not just that, you know, they know why they’re doing it”

And it was fellow bigs Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid throwing pivotal punches. The All-Star KAT scored 20 on 13 shots and the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Reid put up 16 off the bench with 14 coming in the fourth.

The answer for Jokic and the reigning champion Nuggets, at least for Saturday, was going big. And the Wolves response was getting the best performance of the game out of Anthony Edwards, who set a career playoff high with 43 points on 29 shots.

“I’m just really proud of the way he’s accepted the kind of growth that he needed to have to be where he’s at right now,” veteran Mike Conley, who finished with 14 points and 10 assists said. “Understanding the game better, understanding how to play a play off his teammates. When they’re doubling them and making them tougher on him. He’s able to make it make our life easier. Trusting us. It’s not easy for a 22-year-old to make that adjustment so quickly.”

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope wasn’t strong enough with a hobbled leg to slow Edwards nor was Aaron Gordon quick enough to keep up. And Christian Bruan and Peyton Watson didn’t do enough on offense to stay out to play Edwards on defense.

The former No. pick in the draft now has most of the highest-scoring Wolves playoff games, a franchise that is out of the first round for just a second time.

And it comes back to Connelly and the moves he made. The first was supplementing the Towns and Edwards core by picking up Gobert in a trade. The move was much ridiculed in the team’s first season with the former Jazz standout. But in year two, after adding fellow Jazz standout Conley, the Wolves have found a better stride. Now, the trades to add two pieces who once blew a 3-1 series lead to the Nuggets he was in charge of looks genius.

“It will be a quick exit if we allow four guys to get off like that,” Michael Malone said.

Oh and Jokic’s dance partner Jamal Murray? He finished with 17 but was picked apart on defense and held scoreless in the first half.

Back to the drawing board Denver goes. The Wolves have a plan to slow Jokic but the Nuggets seemed answerless for Edwards in Game 1.