Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves stormed Denver 117-108 to seize fourth place in the West, flipping the season series and tightening the 3-through-6 seed traffic jam to two games.
One game, one seeding flip. Minnesota’s 117-108 victory at Ball Arena wasn’t just a résumé-building road win—it was a direct one-game swing that shoved the Timberwolves in front of the defending champs and into pole position for home court in a potential first-round rematch.
Why this loss stings Denver more than a normal L
The Nuggets came in 2-1 versus Minnesota this season. A win would’ve kept them safely in fourth and given them the tiebreaker edge with only 21 games left. Instead:
- Minnesota owns the head-to-head tiebreaker via the 3-1 season series margin.
- Denver is 4-6 since All-Star, with injuries on the wing—Aaron Gordon (hamstring, out since Jan. 30) and Peyton Watson (hamstring strain) still sidelined—tightening coach Michael Malone’s rotation.
Nikola Jokić still did MVP things (35 pts, 13 reb, 9 ast), but Jamal Murray’s hot fourth-quarter juice came too late; the Wolves led by as many as 14 twice and never let the deficit shrink inside seven in the final 3:49.
Edwards’ quiet 21 still tilts the floor
Box-score hunters will shrug at 21 points on 7-18 shooting, but Edwards warped Denver’s help schemes all night. His downhill kick-outs set up four of Donte DiVincenzo’s five triples during the killer 23-12 third-quarter burst that pushed the Wolves up 14. Bones Hyland—playing against the team that drafted him—detonated for 15 of his 18 in the first half to keep pace while Edwards and Towns found their rhythms.
When the Nuggets closed to 104-97 on Murray’s poster over Rudy Gobert, Edwards buried the dagger three at 6:42, sprinted back with the airplane arms, and Target-Center-level roars echoed in a building 850 miles away.
Western Conference gridlock tightens to two games
Monday’s league-wide off-day might be the last time the 3-6 bracket breathes:
- Houston 40-22
- OKC 39-23
- Minnesota 38-23
- Denver 37-24
- Lakers 36-24 (hosting Sacramento Sunday night)
Two games separate third from sixth; every night is now a play-in for the right to avoid play-in chaos.
Corner-3 clinic buried Denver
The Wolves canned 18 threes on 42 attempts (42.9%), their second-best volume night of 2026. DiVincenzo (5-8) and Hyland (3-4) combined to outscore the entire Nuggets bench beyond the arc. Denver countered with 12-35 (34%), squandering 21 second-chance points.
Finch’s game plan was simple: force Jokić into drop coverage early, blitz Murray-AG-less lineups late, and live with contested mid-ranges. It worked—Denver scored just 14 points in the last 6:08.
What’s next (spoiler: it doesn’t get easier)
- Timberwolves: Back-to-back vs. Memphis on Tuesday—another tiebreaker battle in the 4-5-6 pile-up.
- Nuggets: Quick turnaround at Utah on Monday night before a Thursday–Saturday road set at Houston and Memphis.
Every remaining contest inside the conference now carries double weight; Minnesota banked the first of those direct swings and reminded the league they can win in Denver, something no West foe had done since Jan. 17.
Keep it locked on onlytrustedinfo.com for instant analytics, film notes, and seeding fallout every night as the West’s 3-through-6 thunder-dome sorts itself out.
