The Ant-Man waved goodbye. To the script. To the narrative. To Denver.
And to the Nuggets’ chances of winning back-to-back NBA titles.
“I mean, it showed us who we are,” Minnesota star Anthony Edwards said after his Timberwolves stunned the defending NBA champs, 98-90, in Game 7 of their second-round series on Sunday.
“Because the coaches believed in us, even though at halftime, even in the third (period), the coaches said, ‘Just keep making runs, keep making runs.’ Offense played OK. But once we lock in on the defensive side, we are a (heck) of a team to beat.”
The Joker hit a wall.
Karl-Anthony Towns hit buckets. Rudy Gobert hit a turnaround, for pity’s sake.
“When Rudy hit the turnaround I was like, ‘Yeah, we probably got ‘em,'” said Edwards, who scored 16 points, pulled down eight boards and dished out seven assists despite a miserable first half.
Edwards only put up 12 points in the second half. But he did almost as much damage on the defensive end, helping to hold Nuggets guard Jamal Murray to 11 points after halftime. At the break, the Arrow was outscoring the Ant-Man by a count of 22-4.
“We said to ourselves all series (that) ‘Our best is better than their best,'” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “And we just had to play our best.”
But it took a while — like, almost three quarters — for No. 5 to get his Michael Jordan mojo back.
When Mike Conley picked Murray’s pocket at midcourt with 3:07 left, the Nuggets’ fifth turnover of the second half, the veteran point guard shoveled it to Reid, who found Edwards wide open in the right corner. The young guard connected from deep to put Minnesota up 92-82. That capped a madcap 31-17 Wolves run.
And to think: Ant-Man’s first Game 7 was setting up to be anything but a picnic.
For the first 24 minutes, the Nuggets doubled No. 5. They trapped. They went bonkers on screens with Conley. They overloaded Edwards’ half of the court when he went to the strong side. Two dudes. Three dudes.
Edwards was heard on the live microphone during the first half pleading to his teammates: “In order for them to stop doubling me,” the next MJ said, “I need you to hit.”
In the first half, they didn’t. At all. While Ant went into the break with a 1-for-7 shooting line, including 0 for 3 from beyond the arc, backcourt mates Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were a combined 1 for 12 from the floor (1 for 7 on treys) with a collective plus-minus number of negative-21.
That third quarter, though, the script flipped.
“I’m going to force ’em back downhill,” Edwards said during halftime warm-ups. “Watch the backdoor.”
Defense led to offense. Minnesota forced four steals in the third stanza alone, leading to runouts the other way, and Edwards found himself on the finishing end of a pair of fast-break dunks. The Wolves, down 58-38 a minute and 10 seconds after halftime, closed the third stanza on a 28-9 run.
“That final game was just a microcosm of the series,” Finch said. “Teams getting a big handle on each other, and just trying to fight through it.”
Edwards found a way off the canvas. And the Wolves, somehow, landed the last punch.
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