The Timberwolves moved to the edge of advancing Saturday night, but they did it while watching two of their most important guards go down.
Minnesota beat the Denver Nuggets 112-96 in Minneapolis to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference first-round series, but the bigger story by the end of the night was the health of Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, both of whom left with injuries that could reshape the rest of the matchup.
DiVincenzo was the first to go. He exited in the first quarter after suffering a non-contact injury to his right leg, and reports from the arena said he later left in a wheelchair with what was feared to be a torn Achilles. That alone would have been enough to rattle Minnesota early.
Instead, the Wolves absorbed another major blow in the second quarter when Edwards went down with an apparent left knee injury. He was helped off the court, ruled out for the rest of the game, and is scheduled to undergo an MRI.
By halftime, Minnesota was protecting a series lead while also dealing with the possibility that two key backcourt pieces had just been lost in the same playoff game.
That is what makes this result feel so split. The Wolves got the win they needed and pushed Denver to the brink. But they also left the floor with the entire conversation turning away from the score and toward the injury reports. Edwards had five points and three rebounds in 18 minutes before leaving. DiVincenzo barely had time to settle into the game before his night was over.
Minnesota still found a way to finish the job because the supporting cast came up big in a hurry.
Ayo Dosunmu delivered the best game of his career, scoring a career-high 43 points and carrying much of the offensive load after the injuries hit. The Timberwolves also got 17 points from Naz Reid, 15 points and nine rebounds from Julius Randle, and 15 rebounds from Rudy Gobert. Minnesota took over in the second half, outscoring Denver 62-42 and turning what looked like a crisis game into a convincing win.
Denver had enough production to keep the box score respectable, but not enough to stop the series from shifting hard against it. Jamal Murray scored 30 points, while Nikola Jokic posted 24 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists. The frustration showed late, too, as both Jokic and Randle were ejected after an altercation.
Still, the main concern for Minnesota starts with Edwards and DiVincenzo.
Edwards is the franchise star and the team’s leading scorer, averaging 28.8 points per game in the regular season. He had averaged 23 points through the first three games of the series before Saturday.
DiVincenzo is not the face of the team, but he is a major part of the rotation, a dependable guard who brings spacing, activity and experience. Losing either player in the playoffs is significant. Losing both in the same game would be a massive hit for any team trying to close out a series against Denver.
That leaves Minnesota in a strange spot heading into Game 5 on Monday night in Denver. The Wolves are one win from advancing. They also are walking into that game possibly without Edwards, and certainly will be without DiVincenzo. So while the scoreboard says Minnesota is in command, the injury report is what now holds the real leverage in the series.