On May 5, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and the Western Conference semifinals officially began, with the Nuggets playing the Timberwolves at home. As soon as the Timberwolves came up, they took an 18-4 lead, but the Nuggets directly responded with a wave of 21-3 offensive to overtake the score, and then the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, and Edwards stood up at the critical moment to help the team widen the difference. In the end, the Nuggets lost to the Timberwolves 99-106 and fell behind 0-1.
In the first round, the Nuggets eliminated the Lakers 4-1 and the Timberwolves swept the Suns 4-0, all of which got plenty of rest. But the Nuggets still exposed the shortcomings of the slow start, and the Timberwolves' Edwards came up with a hot hand, and scored consecutive points with inside and outside shots, helping the team take an 18-4 lead. After the Nuggets adjusted, they slowly entered the state, Porter Jr. hit the outside, Jokic also began to score points, directly responded with a wave of 21-3 offensive, and directly overtook the score, and the Nuggets led 25-23 after the first quarter of the game.
After that, the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, the point difference has not been able to be opened, and the feeling is a little sluggish, unable to score points continuously, and the investment in defense is still very large, and the Nuggets took a 4-point lead after the half. In the third quarter, the two teams were still difficult to solve, the Timberwolves regained their offensive touch, Edwards and Towns were able to stand up and score points, and the Nuggets Murray slowly regained some touch, but the team still lost the lead, and fell behind the Timberwolves 71-73 after the third quarter.
In the final quarter of the game, the two teams were still in a tug-of-war, Murray scored consecutive points, Reed responded, Gordon scored a basket, Conley scored a three-pointer, Murray directly replied 3+1, and the score alternately led. Edwards scored back-to-back heads-ups, Braun hit a three-pointer, Reed responded immediately, Jokic scored on a basket, and Reed continued to score points to take a 94-88 lead. Jokic hit a 2+1 bite, and then the Nuggets hit the iron continuously, and Edwards scored from his back, and the difference was stretched to 11 points, and the game lost suspense. In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets 106-99 and took a 1-0 lead.
This time, Edwards shined all over the court, playing 42 minutes, scoring 43 points and 7 rebounds on 17-of-29 shooting, helping the team get off to a good start. In addition, Towns had 20 points and Gobert had 6 points and 13 rebounds. On the defending champion Nuggets' side, Jokic scored 32 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, Murray scored 17 points, and Porter Jr. scored 20 points.