DENVER (AP) – Anthony Edwards scored 30 points, Julius Randle added 24 and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied past the Denver Nuggets 119-114 on Monday night to tie their Western Conference playoff series at one game apiece.<\/p>\n
Denver had won 13 straight since losing on March 18.<\/p>\n
Edwards turned the ball over with 31 seconds left and Christian Braun got fouled at the other end, but he missed one of two free throws, leaving Denver trailing 115-114 with 19 seconds remaining. <\/p>\n
After a Minnesota timeout, Randle sank two free throws and Donte DiVincenzo added a breakaway dunk to cap the comeback from a 19-point first-quarter deficit.<\/p>\n
Jamal Murray scored 30 points and Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. But the Nuggets\u2019 All-Star duo shot a combined 2 for 12 in the fourth quarter, managing a measly four points as the Wolves evened a best-of-seven series that shifts to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Denver blew a chance to take control against its Northwest Division rival. The Nuggets are 8-0 in their history when winning the first two games of a playoff series, and the Wolves are 0-8 when dropping Games 1 and 2.<\/p>\n
Murray sank a 51-foot 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to tie it at 64. Jokic came on strong after a quiet start, scoring 16 points in the third quarter when the Nuggets took a 93-90 lead.<\/p>\n
Edwards looked much better than he did during his 22-point effort in Game 1, when his rust from a bum knee was apparent. This time, he drove to the basket more instead of settling for jumpers.<\/p>\n
Minnesota, which outscored Denver 20-3 in second-chance points, rallied from an early 19-point deficit and surged to a 64-56 lead only to watch the Nuggets score the last eight points of the first half. <\/p>\n
Murray, who missed all eight of his 3-pointers in the series opener, started things off Monday night with a 3 and was 5 for 7 from deep before halftime. In the first quarter, he had a pair of four-point plays, fouled both times by Ayo Dosunmu.<\/p>\n
Before tipoff, Wolves coach Chris Finch complained for a third straight day about the free-throw disparity in Game 1, when the Nuggets outscored Minnesota 30-14 from the stripe. He cracked that maybe his players need to \u201cstart flopping, too.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nuggets coach David Adelman pointed out that some of Murray\u2019s 16 free throws – he made all of them – were because of flagrant and technical fouls by Minnesota in a particularly physical Game 1.<\/p>\n
The Wolves, despite their coach\u2019s umbrage, settled for jumpers early on in Game 2 and were whistled for 11 fouls to Denver\u2019s four in the first quarter, when the Nuggets surged to a 44-25 lead.<\/p>\n
Led by Edwards, they starting getting to the rim and that\u2019s what fueled their comeback.<\/p>\n
Both teams shot 30 free throws this time, with the Wolves making 19 and Denver 23.<\/p>\n