MINNEAPOLIS – Anthony Edwards hit a 7-foot floater with 25.7 seconds left, and Rudy Gobert iced the game with two free throws to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Denver Nuggets 119-116 on Friday night.

Edwards scored 29 points, Gobert 17 points and 14 rebounds and Julius Randle added 23 points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who recovered from a 25-3 fourth-quarter run by the Nuggets.

Nikola Jokic had 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds and made two free throws with 2:30 left to give Denver a 116-109 lead, before Minnesota fought back. Jokic had a chance to tie the score at 119, but Gobert forced an errant corner 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left.

Gordon led the Nuggets with 31 points and 11 rebounds in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference semifinals.

Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points for the Nuggets, who lost point guard Jamal Murray to the concussion protocol in the third quarter after colliding with Randle.

Takeaways

Nuggets: Lightening some of the load on three-time NBA MVP Jokic will be key to keeping his window of championship competition open, and Gordon and Porter have done their part. But the lack of depth is concerning. Their bench was dominated 31-13.

Timberwolves: After leading the league in defense last season, they caused some leaks, especially in transition. The Nuggets had 22 fast break points.

Key moment

Braun dove on the 7-foot-2 Gobert with 5:14 left and got even closer to his face with a mocking scream that prompted Gobert to grab Braun by the neck. The benches cleared, shouts were exchanged and both players were given a technical examination.

Key statistic

Gordon had his second-highest point total in over four seasons with the Nuggets. He shot 11 of 18.

To be continued

The Nuggets host Utah on Saturday. while the Timberwolves play in San Antonio the same day.