Anthony Edwards is rocketing into stardom right in front of our eyes and I am here for it. Ant Man led the Timberwolves with 43 points to a Game 1 upset as Minnesota stole home court advantage in a 106-99 win on Saturday night. And the best part about it is the fact that Edwards won’t be satisfied with that, he is going all out in Game 2 as well. Minnesota won the rebounding battle and most importantly they were able to disrupt Nikola Jokic a bit, holding him to just 11-for-25 shooting and 7 turnovers. Rudy Gobert was spectacular on the defensive end with 13 rebounds and 3 blocks, I’m curious to see how he responds to the adjustments the 2-time MVP makes for Game 2. The Timberwolves are yet to lose a game in the postseason, but tonight they’ll face their biggest test yet.
Jamal Murray is still clearly bothered by his calf injury, he went scoreless in the first half for the first time in his career and finished with a mediocre 17 points on Saturday. Denver could just never get into the flow on offense, finishing with their lowest point total of the postseason so far. Experience should come into play on Monday night though, the defending champs have had their fair share of comebacks in Round 1 and they’ll look to respond here after losing home court in Game 1. Denver is 12-4 SU in the last 16 home games vs Minnesota, Saturday’s loss ended a 7-game home win streak overall. If I’m head coach Michael Malone, I’d look to push the pace a bit here which could disrupt the Timberwolves defense just enough to pull off the win.
