On May 5, Beijing time, the NBA Western Conference semifinals officially began, and the defending champion Nuggets played at home against the Timberwolves. Neither team had trouble in the first round, with the Timberwolves coming up against the visitors, but the Nuggets quickly caught up with the score, and then the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, and in the final quarter, Reed and Edwards stepped up to score consecutive points to help the team widen the gap. In the end, the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets 106-99 to get off to a good start, and the series led 1-0.
The Timberwolves have been very strong this season, and have been occupying the first place in the West before, but unfortunately they were unable to withstand it at the last moment and finally finished third in the West. In the first round, facing the Suns of the Big Three, the big score was 4-0 to complete the sweep directly, and the Timberwolves also withstood the Suns' counterattack in the last game, and Edwards scored 40 points. In the first game of the semifinals, Edwards continued his hot momentum, scoring 43 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists to help the team get off to a good start.
After the start of the game, Edwards entered the state early, scoring 16 points in a single quarter and once helping the team take a 14-point lead, but unfortunately failed to hold on. After that, Edwards maintained a consistent performance, and in the crucial final quarter, he stepped up to take over the game, using a step-back jumper to stretch the deficit to 11 points, just like Jordan at that moment, and then scored a straight layup to kill the game, and then scored 12 points in the final quarter.
With 43 points in the game, Edwards became the main contributor to the team's victory, and his performance was recognized by many. This time, he also set 3 records, 43 points to set a new high in his personal playoff career, 3 consecutive games in the playoffs 35+, becoming the fourth player to do it before the age of 23, the first three are Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe and James, 2 consecutive games in the playoffs 40+, the second player to do it before the age of 23, the first is Kobe.
This kind of Edwards is really admirable, the key moment is to be able to stand up and score points, the key is that he is less than 23 years old, and the future is really immeasurable. Judging from the current playoffs, Edwards is definitely the strongest star in this playoffs, and in the first round of facing Durant, he has already convinced the opponent and is not at a disadvantage at all. Now that he has suppressed MVP favorite Jokic in the first game, Edwards really has a chance to go far this time.