Edwards leads Timberwolves past Nuggets

DENVER — This is why owner Glen Taylor doesn’t want to let go of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Anthony Edwards scored 25 points and

Mike Conley added 23 in Minnesota’s 111-98 rout of Denver on Friday night that sent the Timberwolves into a first-place tie in the Western Conference — and the defending NBA champion Nuggets into third place.

“There’s a lot of resilience to this team,” TWolves coach Chris Finch said. “We’ve been very tough-minded all season. Our goal remains to play our best basketball heading into the playoffs. If that allows us to finish first, second or third, whatever, that’s what it is. But we’ve got a lot of big games coming up against teams that are playing for a lot, as well.

“So, this was exactly the test that we need coming down the stretch.”

The Nuggets (51-23) failed to reach 100 points for the second straight game and fell a half-game behind the Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Nuggets were without star point guard Jamal Murray (ankle, knee) for a fourth consecutive game, and once again their lack of depth was exposed as their bench provided very little help in Denver’s second straight loss at home.

Nobody missed Murray more than MVP favorite Nikola Jokic, who had consecutive turnovers to end the third quarter and missed 11 of

his first 17 shots against Minnesota’s pestering double teams before rallying to finish with 32 points despite playing with a sore shooting wrist.

“I was surprised he played tonight, to be quite honest,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.

“His wrist has really been giving him a lot of trouble, and Nikola is a guy who plays through a lot of things that most guys wouldn’t play through.”

David Zalubowski/Associated Press Anthony Edwards, right, scored 25 points as the Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets to move into a tie top the Western Conference standings.