Timberwolves Dominate Nuggets to Take 2-0 Playoff Lead

Anthony Edwards led the way again as the Minnesota Timberwolves dominated defending NBA champions the Denver Nuggets to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semi-finals.

Edwards, who scored 43 points in game one, added 27 on Monday night as Minnesota completed a convincing 106-80 win.

Minnesota were without three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert but still limited Denver stars Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic to eight and 16 points respectively.

Timberwolves centre, Karl-Anthony Towns, says they were playing for Gobert.

Karl-Anthony Towns.

Having won both games in Denver, the Timberwolves head back to Minneapolis for the next two games in the best-of-seven series, with game three on Friday.

Jalen Brunson scored 43 points as the New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers 121-117 in a thrilling game one of their Eastern Conference semi-final series.

It was Brunson’s fourth successive 40-point game, making him just the fourth player in NBA play-off history to achieve the feat after Jerry West in 1965, Bernard King in 1984 and Michael Jordan in 1993.

Meanwhile, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has been named NBA Rookie of the Year.

The 20-year-old is the first Frenchman to win the award after averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, a league-high 3.6 blocked shots and 1.2 steals a game.

Wembanyama, the first pick in last year’s draft, was the unanimous choice as he earned all 99 first-place votes.

He is the first unanimous Rookie of the Year since Karl-Anthony Towns in 2016.