Thirteen months ago, in a pub a few miles away from Ball Arena, the Minnesota Timberwolves began their historic 20-point comeback against the Denver Nuggets in Sunday’s Game 7 to earn a ticket to the Western Conference finals.
In April 2023, the Timberwolves had just fallen to the Nuggets in the opening round of the playoffs, with Anthony Edwards missing a game-tying three-pointer with seconds remaining in Game 5. Edwards and a few teammates then headed to the Cherry Creek neighborhood’s Forget Me Not cocktail lounge, although their chartered aircraft home wasn’t supposed to depart until the following morning.
Thirteen months ago, in a pub a few miles away from Ball Arena, the Minnesota Timberwolves began their historic 20-point comeback against the Denver Nuggets in Sunday’s Game 7 to earn a ticket to the Western Conference finals.
In April 2023, the Timberwolves had just fallen to the Nuggets in the opening round of the playoffs, with Anthony Edwards missing a game-tying three-pointer with seconds remaining in Game 5. Edwards and a few teammates then headed to the Cherry Creek neighborhood’s Forget Me Not cocktail lounge, although their chartered aircraft home wasn’t supposed to depart until the following morning.
“‘We’ll be back,’ I told him. We’ll see you again after we’re all loaded.”
On Sunday, Edwards’ proclamation was realized.
After falling behind the Nuggets, the reigning champions, by as much as 20 points in the third quarter, the Timberwolves came back to make the biggest comeback in a Game 7 in the previous 25 postseasons.
After the triumph, Edwards remarked, “It shows who we are.” “Once we really lock in on the defensive end, man, we’re a hell of a team to beat.”
In the meantime, the Nuggets lost their Game 7 despite leading by at least 15 points at halftime, becoming the fifth reigning NBA champion to fall without making it to the conference finals.
As Edwards said, the Timberwolves outscored the Nuggets by two to six, and it needed a collective effort from the whole team to defeat Denver. Edwards struggled through a 6-for-24 shooting night, so it was also necessary.
Karl-Anthony Towns, a four-time All-Star with the Timberwolves, led the charge and put on his best game in his nine-year career.
Towns, the team’s longest-tenured player and the franchise’s first choice in 2015, finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds, two steals, and a blocked shot. More significantly, he played defense against Denver’s three-time MVP, Nikola Jokic, as effectively as anyone could have on a one-on-one basis.
“I think you see how at peace and happy he is right now,” Towns’ coach at Minnesota, Chris Finch, remarked. “He needed to have faith that he would never be cast aside. Every new player in this league believes they can succeed on their own, but nobody can.
“I’m incredibly delighted and thrilled for him. just because I believe that he has occasionally been the target of unwarranted criticism about the postseason.”
Jokic went 2-for-10 from 3-point range and 13-for-28 from the field despite finishing with 34 points and 19 rebounds. Murray finished with 35 points on 13 of 27 shots, 3 assists, and 4 turnovers.
Towns scored twenty points for the sixth time in the postseason, and he did so while playing on the road.
“It was tough, man, because I couldn’t find myself, my rhythm tonight,” Edwards stated. “I just needed to have faith in my teammates,” For the remainder of the game, all I had to do was make the appropriate moves. My teammates made shots after I did it. Many thanks to those men.”
From 10:50 in the third quarter to 11:14 in the fourth, the Timberwolves used a 32-9 run to seize the lead and take control of the game away from the Nuggets. Edwards was only 1 for 9 from the field to begin the game, but he improved after the break, going on to score 9 points in the third, including a step-back three to beat the quarter buzzer. After opening the game 1 for 5, Rudy Gobert, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year for Minnesota, supplied an unexpected offensive punch in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of his 13 points (including a remarkable, arcing turnaround jump shot) in the final session.
When asked whether he thought Minnesota had gained momentum, Edwards responded, “I think we probably got them when Rudy hit the turnaround.” “Big shoutout to Big Ru, hit the turnaround on their a–.”
Gobert assisted the Timberwolves in outrebounding Denver 29–15 and limiting the Nuggets to just 37 points on 35.9% shooting (19% from three) in the second half.
“It feels amazing,” Gobert remarked. “Beating a team like they are, an incredible team, a championship team, with the best player in the world, it feels good.”
With 3:05 left in the fourth quarter, an Edwards corner three put Minnesota up by as many as 10, forcing the Nuggets to seek a timeout as Edwards leaped up and down in celebration, embracing a fan beside the court. The moment was punctuated by a boisterous group of traveling Minnesota fans chanting “Let’s go Wolves!” across the arena.
Center for Minnesota Naz Reid, who finished with 11 points off the bench to maintain his Sixth Man of the Year status, commented, “That was dope.” “We had our own section, and they were going against the whole stadium.”
Mike Conley, a 17-year-old veteran of the Timberwolves, broke his career 0–4 record in Game 7s with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Edwards referred to Jaden McDaniels as the team’s MVP of the postseason thus far. He finished with 23 points on 7 of 10 shots, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block.
Since the beginning of the 2022–23 season, the two teams have met 20 times during the regular season and playoffs. This encounter proved to be a classic and the most exciting game of the series. (Three games in this second-round series had final margins of 25 points or more; only two of the first six games had been decided by less than 10 points.)
“That was one hell of a series,” Michael Malone, the coach for Denver, wrote. It’s hard to take, but they gave us everything we could muster, and they prevailed in Game 7 on our own court. However, we’ll return.”
Minnesota became the only NBA team to go unblemished in Game 7 as they went to 2-0 in the series’ history.
Furthermore, Towns noted that Sunday was Timberwolves great Kevin Garnett’s 48th birthday, which makes Minneapolis’ 2004-style celebration all the more fitting. The Wolves are back in the conference finals for the first time in twenty years, since Garnett & Co. were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
“All I want is for these guys to comprehend.” Conley, 36, stated, “I don’t think they realize what they just done. Reaching the West Conference finals and showcasing their accomplishments is a fantastic chance. Never assume it to be true. Now enjoy the moment, but get ready to go on. Another squad is waiting for you. Your ambitions are obstructed by everyone, so you need to be prepared to move forward.”
The Dallas Mavericks and Timberwolves will square off for the privilege to represent the West in the NBA Finals. On Wednesday, Game 1 will be held in Minnesota.
