The Denver Nuggets didn't simply beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. The Nuggets punked the Timberwolves in a 109-80 victory. That was the description used by Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who believes Minnesota must make a serious adjustment in Game 2.
“We gotta be physical,” Anthony Edwards told reporters ahead of Timberwolves-Nuggets Game 2 Wednesday. “We gotta play more physical. They was bumping us all over the floor. They really punked us in Game 1, I would say. We gotta come out, get some hard fouls or something. Ya know, get the game going.”
Edwards was forced to watch much of Game 1 with foul trouble. The former No. 1 overall pick was on the bench in the third quarter as the Nuggets pulled away from the Timberwolves and breezed to a 1-0 series lead to start the 2023 NBA Playoffs. Edwards finished with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
Nikola Jokic delivered an elbow to Edwards toward the end of Game 1. Kyle Anderson and Christian Braun had to be separated at one point as things got chippy between the two teams. The Nuggets had 20 fouls to the Timberwolves' 16.
The Nuggets dominated the Timberwolves on the boards. Denver outrebounded Minnesota 54 to 38.
Minnesota's best chance to make this a competitive series might be to play more physically and try to steal a few ugly defensive battles. As the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Nuggets are heavy favorites to eliminate the Timberwolves and reach the second round.
Minnesota also needs much better offensive performances from Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns had 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting in the Timberwolves' Game 1 defeat.
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