MINNEAPOLIS – Nikola Jokic has knocked out so many teams it is easier for him to identify them by the soles of their sneakers than their names.
Anthony Edwards is the next big thing. Sunday he kept the Timberwolves tethered to hope.
Jokic is one of the more recognizable silhouettes in the Mile High skyline. Edwards is becoming as popular as Prince in these parts, his dunks the equivalent of electric guitar riffs.
The pair traded punches befitting their place in the NBA galaxy.
The difference between the Most Valuable Player and the Most Exciting Player? The Other Guys.
After the road team won the first three games, after two unnerving blowouts, a growing body of thought was that the winner of Game 4 would win the series.
Nuggets 115, Timberwolves 107. That was a Howl of a Win.
Jokic scored 35, and he must share the headlines with Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray and the finest work from the bench since Judge Judy.
Edwards conjured images of Michael Jordan. And the Nuggets never flinched. Gordon made 11 of 12 shots and was perfect through three quarters. For a man known for bending rims with ferocity, he performed with the pulseless efficiency of a CPA finishing a tax return. Gordon has skills befitting a star, but he plays the supporting actor role with versatility and humility. He made two 3s, and his dunk with 3:14 remaining in the game left Edwards slouching his shoulders as he walked to the bench.
“I am sick of Aaron Gordon,” Edwards said.
Moments later, fans began heading toward the exits. Apparently, traffic is an issue in Minneapolis, who knew?
“(Gordon) was our MVP tonight,” coach Michael Malone said.
There were multiple mouth-agape moments that helped explain this victory. Jokic scored 19 points in the first half, then took the bagel in the third quarter, his minutes shaved after recording his fourth foul.
“The whole world holds its breath (when he’s on the bench),” Malone admitted.
The beauty of Nuggets basketball is that Jokic is an artist with a large canvas. And like Bob Ross, there are no mistakes, just happy accidents. He inspires others.
Murray, receiving fewer boos after making the sellout crowd bite its tongue on Friday, took over when Minnesota was gaining confidence. The Nuggets scored five points in two seconds to end the half. Yes, five.
Michael Porter Jr. dunked. And after a mind-numbing Minnesota turnover, Murray sank a 55-footer at the buzzer. The Nuggets held a 64-49 lead.
“Nothing crazy. Just caught it. Shot it,” Murray said. “It felt good from the moment it left my hand.”
With Jokic briefly reduced to a spectator for a queasy stretch, Murray showed that when he’s hot the court belongs to him. He scored 12 in the third with 3s, reverse layups and jumpers followed by soliloquies to the Timberwolves’ bench that would make Shakespeare blush.
“I didn’t realize he was in foul trouble,” Murray said, sort of deadpanning. “I thought he was just tired.”
Edwards remained caffeinated, but one thumbs up did not match five fingers making a fist.
Edwards had 23 points in the first half. He eclipsed 30 after three. There are audible gasps when he leaves the ground or shoots from St. Paul. He is great. He, however, does not wear a cape. Edwards finished with 44. His next closest teammate was Mike Conley with 15.
It is the dirty secret of this series. The Nuggets will let Edwards get his if no one else really does. The Timberwolves had six players in double figures, but those contributions paled compared to Justin Holliday’s 10 and Reggie Jackson’s six points and a charge taken.
Edwards made 16 of 25 shots. It’s hard to imagine him playing better. And yet, he wasn’t even the best player in the fourth quarter.
With Jackson and Holliday throwing jabs (the pair combined to make five of eight 3s), Murray simmering and Gordon looking like Christian Laettner vs. Kentucky, Edwards was outmanned. And suddenly there was The Man again.
Refreshed from his rest, Jokic leaned on the Timberwolves in the final 15 minutes. He scored 16. He bullied Rudy Gobert in the paint, he showed a velvet touch on runners and made a hook pass to Gordon that Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t make with three arms and Lasik surgery.
This is what makes the Nuggets so dangerous. When the alarms were blaring after two losses, they remained confident, selfless, patient.
There is no one more talented than Edwards in this series. But the better team has won the last two games, and there’s no reason to believe that won’t happen again and again.
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