Three stars from Saturday’s NBA playoffs

The Nuggets finally met a team that can hang with them in the fourth quarter on Saturday. Now they’re trailing in a playoff series for the first time since 2022. Here are three stars from Saturday’s NBA playoff action.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards | 43 points, seven rebounds

Many people have called the Nikola Jokic-Jamal Murray duo the best two-man game in the NBA. After Minnesota’s 106-99 win in Game 1, the NBA’s best two-man game might simply be Anthony Edwards and whoever happens to be on the court with him.

Edwards followed up his 40-point game to sweep the Phoenix Suns with a 43-point effort in Denver. Minnesota needed him as he scored 25 of its 40 first-half points to keep the Wolves afloat. Minnesota then got explosive offensive spurts from Karl-Anthony Towns and Mike Conley in the third quarter, Naz Reid in the fourth and even Rudy Gobert late.

But the fearless Edwards was the engine that drove the Wolves to their upset. Staring at the defending champs and a likely three-time MVP in Jokic, Edwards didn’t flinch.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid | 14 fourth-quarter points

If you wondered how Reid won Sixth Man of the Year, the fourth quarter of Game 1 showed off why he was incredibly valuable to Minnesota, even with big men Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns in place.

In one fourth-quarter stretch, Reid scored 10 points in a row for Minnesota, making two three-pointers, a layup and a putback dunk. By the end of his run, the Wolves were up six points, and Denver never got closer than three points afterward.