DENVER (AP) 鈥� Anthony Edwards was seeing double everywhere he turned. All by design as the Denver Nuggets doubled the attention on .
It was yet another wrinkle for the Nuggets, who held Edwards to 18 points 鈥� 15 below his average in this series 鈥� in over the Timberwolves on Tuesday night in Game 5.
鈥淲e knew we had to do something different with Anthony Edwards. That guy is just a one-man wrecking crew,鈥� Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. 鈥淲e trapped him. We double-teamed him. We flew around behind him.鈥�
They exhausted him, too.
Because in addition to feeling the constant pressure to carry the offensive load, Edwards was applying the pressure on defense in an effort to make things difficult for Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.
鈥淕etting in the best shape of my life,鈥� cracked Edwards, whose team has dropped three in a row in the series. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 fun.鈥�
The Nuggets dared anyone not named Edwards to beat them as they took a 3-2 lead in the second-round series with a chance to close out the Timberwolves on Thursday night in Minneapolis. The strategy worked, in part, because Anthony had fewer clear looks at the basket. The Timberwolves were also who was ruled out before the game with soreness in his right Achilles.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e just playing better than us right now,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e playing harder than us. They鈥檙e getting all the loose balls. Everything's going their way. They've got the momentum, man. We鈥檝e got to figure out a way to shift it back our way.鈥�
Karl-Anthony Towns had a solid night despite appearing to in the first half, finishing with 23 points. Rudy Gobert, too, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds. But by keeping Edwards in check on 5-of-15 shooting, the Nuggets limited the damage and built a lead that stretched to as many as 18 points.
With so much attention surrounding him, Edwards resorted to passing and finished with a team-high nine assists. But it was his instant offense the Timberwolves were in desperate need of late in the game. He had four points in the fourth quarter.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to do a better job making it easier for him,鈥� Towns said of Edwards. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about executing at a higher level. The guys in the other locker room here are executing at a championship level in these last three games. They鈥檝e shown when you鈥檙e executing at that level what the results will be.鈥�
So dominant on defense in the first two games, winning two in a row in Denver by keeping the Nuggets under 100 points, the Timberwolves have found it tougher to contain the connected Nuggets ever since. Denver has averaged 114.7 points over its last three games.
鈥淭heir guys are making shots,鈥� Edwards said.
Especially three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who had 40 points on 15-of-22 shooting. He also had 13 assists and no turnovers.
鈥淗e鈥檚 the best player in NBA,鈥� Edwards said. "He was special tonight. I鈥檝e got to give him his flowers. He was that guy tonight.鈥�
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AP NBA:
Pat Graham, The Associated Press
