Anthony Edwards speaks after the Timberwolves drop game one.
The Minnesota Timberwolves dropped game one to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, losing 116-105.
Minnesota had a 12-point lead in the first quarter, but basketball is a game of runs, and the Nuggets made their run in the second half to put the game away.
The Timberwolves' offense failed to get going in the second half, while their defense had trouble stopping Denver's high powered offense.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 22 points on 7-19 shooting and 2-9 from three. He was the only Minnesota player to score over 18 points.
All five Minnesota starters were in double figures, and Ayo Dosunmu had 14 points off the bench.
Anthony Edwards Speaks
After the game, Edwards was asked what prevented the team from walking away with a victory.
"A couple just mental errors in the game that we need to correct moving to the next game. A couple turnovers that we shouldn’t have had," he said.
The Nuggets actually had more turnovers than the Timberwolves, finishing with 14 compared to only 13 for Minnesota. Both teams gave up 17 points off turnovers. Minnesota also shot better from the field, hitting at a 46% clip from the field and 32% from three. The Nuggets shot 44% from the field and 28% from three.
The game was tied at 68 with eight minutes to go in the third, but the Nuggets began to pull away from that point, building a 15-point lead.
Minnesota managed to cut the lead to two with six minutes left in the fourth, but ran out of gas, and the Nuggets executed down the stretch to hold on for the win.
After Minnesota cut the lead to two, Nikola Jokic converted an and-one, Bruce Brown intercepted a bad pass, and Jokic tipped in a Murray tip to push the lead to seven and give Denver the momentum back.
Free Throw Differential
Much of the discussion after the game wasn't about the turnovers, but instead about the free throws. Denver shot 33 free throws compared to only 19 for the Timberwolves.
Jamal Murray shot 16 free throws on his own, knocking down all 16 to finish with a game-high 30 points. Nikola Jokic went to the line only once, but had 25 total points to go along with 13 rebounds and 11 assists for another triple double.
Edwards shot seven free throws for the Timberwolves, one less than Aaron Gordon.
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch made sure to point out the free throw differential after the game, while Nuggets head coach David Adelman said that Murray shot 16 free throws because he got fouled 16 times.