The Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards and Nuggets’ Jamal Murray will be the keys to the series

In the second quarter of the Timberwolves’ lopsided playoff loss to Denver on Friday night, Nuggets star Jamal Murray walked to the corner to guard Jaden McDaniels and then bent over to hold the seams of his shorts, which is the universal symbol of a tired basketball player. .

He looked exhausted, and for good reason. Murray spent much of the first half making difficult shots against the top-ranked defense in the NBA while playing with a calf injury that is unlikely to fully heal this postseason.

The Wolves moved the ball upfield and the possession ended with McDaniels staying in the corner and Murray catching his breath.

The Wolves should never let him catch his breath.

There may be, as Wolves center Rudy Gobert said, ‘a million factors’ that determine the outcome of a highly competitive series, but the two most prominent factors in this series are probably these:

1. Murray’s score.

2. Anthony Edwards’ ability to play like a superstar.

Murray is the Nuggets’ biggest variable. Nikola Jokic is going to take the right action in every situation. Murray can be great, but he can also get so frustrated that he whines the entire game and throws foreign objects onto the court.

When Murray plays well, the Nuggets will remind you why they are the defending champions. If he doesn’t, the Nuggets will look shallow and limited offensively.

To win Game 4 and the series, the Wolves not only have to defend him well, they also have to have him play defense. You can’t make the tough shots Murray did in Game 3 when your legs are tired. The Wolves didn’t make him work hard enough bringing the ball up the field or when he was on defense. And their inability to test his defense also prevented any chance of him getting into big trouble.

“Yeah, definitely,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said of the importance of getting Murray to work on defense. “But I mean, we weren’t good anywhere offensively.”

Gobert and other Wolves shrugged, noting that Murray is a great player with championship status. What they could have said if they were less careful is that he can also shoot the Nuggets right out of a game when he’s frustrated.

While Murray dominated the first half on Friday evening, Anthony Edwards calmly entered the match. Sometimes that’s a sign of maturity, that he doesn’t force shots, that he wants to get teammates involved before he takes over. He never took over the lead on Friday, finishing with just 19 points and failing to make a dramatic difference on defense.

“I wasn’t aggressive,” Edwards said. ‘We’ll be ready on Sunday.

“It’s on me. I take the blame for this loss. I came out with no energy and everything, and I can’t afford to do that for my team.”

Edwards may get credit for being responsible, but his explanation makes no sense. The Wolves were playing their first home game since April 23, the arena and the city were ready for a celebration, and a win over the Nuggets would have all but assured a spot in the Western Conference finals, and maybe even a chance to rest . longer than their next opponent.

No energy?

That’s bizarre.

As for Murray, in winning playoff games since the start of the 2023 postseason, he has averaged 26 points per game. In losing playoff games during that span, he averaged 20.6.

In this series, Murray scored a total of 25 points in the two losses and 24 in the win.

That total alone – 24 points – does not reflect the significance of his performance in Friday’s first half.

Murray scored eight points in the first quarter and 10 in the second, on his usual array of three-pointers, drives and fallaway jumpers with a hand on his face.

He looked healthy and energetic.

“Jamal was Jamal,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “He’s not going to be 3-for-18 every game. In Denver he missed some wide open shots. That doesn’t happen often. Tonight he made those same shots.

“We didn’t help ourselves by giving him easier shots than the games before.”

In Game 4, the Wolves need to make Murray feel like he’s running through an obstacle course and not strolling around the court.