The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets delivered what may have been the most exciting game of the season so far on Christmas Day with a thrilling overtime battle that was characterized by a fourth quarter comeback by the Timberwolves to tie the game at the very last second and utter dominance from both Anthony Edwards and Nikola Jokic. 

The Nuggets led throughout most of the game, but as the Timberwolves hit a second win in the fourth and outscored Denver by 15, Edwards delivered with a game-tying three point shot with 1.1 seconds left in the game to send the contest into overtime. 

That was when tensions truly rose. Minnesota came out of the gate strong with a 9-0 run, but the Nuggets soon answered with a run of their own to make things interesting. 

Edwards and Jokic battled throughout the entire game and and both ended with some of the best single-game performances of the season.

Edwards finished with 44 points, three assist, six rebounds and three steals while Jokic turned in an incredible stat line of 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists, becoming the first player in NBA history to have 55+ points and 15 or more rebounds and assists. 

"It was a high level game," Rudy Gobert said (via Timberwolves). "They [Denver] got the win. We were up, we were down. Anthony [Edwards] got the big shot to [get] to overtime. We played great then we, it was a mix of multiple things. We let them back in the game with a couple threes and then obviously a couple calls, couple things and then they won the game."

As overtime wound on, two things became clear game-changers: the Nuggets' dominant performance from three point range and several controversial foul calls. 

The foul calls, or lack thereof, became a particular point of contention for the Timberwolves. The Nuggets ended up with more whistles than their opponents, and Edwards became so frustrated hat he was hit with his second technical foul and an ejection with roughly 20 seconds left in the game, leaving Minnesota without their biggest star in crunch time. 

Those foul calls ended up making a major difference as Denver scored 11 points from the free throw line and won the game 142-138.

"Nikola hit two threes in row, then I got the rebound, I got a hammer, no call," Gobert said. "Tim Hardaway hit another three and then they got back in the game. Three threes like that, and then at that point it was just a basketball game."