Denver, USA

Anthony Edwards once again starred for the Minnesota Timberwolves as they stunned defending champions Denver Nuggets in the Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs on May 4. Edwards scored playoff career-high 43 points as the Wolves won 106-99 at the Nuggets' home court.

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This is the fourth time in five playoff games that Edwards has gone past 33 points this postseason. He has been one of factors that the Wolves have won all their playoffs games this season. Before the WC semis against the Nuggets, they had done a 4-0 clean sweep against the Phoenix Suns in Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs.

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On Saturday, Edwards finished with seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal apart from dropping 43 points. This is the third time he has gone for 35 or more points in five postseason games this season.

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Such was his impact that he had taken the Wolves to a 18-4 lead in the first quarter, scoring 13 points himself. The defending champs, nonetheless, came back strongly with a 21-5 run to finish the 1Q with 25-23 and a lead of two points.

The second quarter was the calmer one for both teams with the Nuggets outscoring the Wolves 19-17. Minnesota were trailing by four points at the half time but came back rather strong in the next half. In the third quarter, Minnesota outscored Denver 33-27 and the Nuggets couldn't keep up with them in the fourth quarter as well, going 28-33.

While the Timberwolves outshot the Nuggets from the field with 52.4% to 46.7% lead, they also secured the lead in rebounding with 42-34 score. Notably, this is the first time the Nuggets have not managed to score 100 points in the playoffs this season. 

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The next game is scheduled to be played on Monday (May 6) in Denver.