It seemed like this was a foregone conclusion, but now it’s official: Anthony Edwards will miss Monday night’s game with the Nuggets due to a hamstring injury. Ant-Man left the Timberwolves’ game against the Pacers on Sunday after just three minutes with hamstring tightness and did not return.
That’s never a good sign, especially with a back-to-back looming, and sure enough, Monday afternoon, the Wolves announced an MRI revealed a right hamstring strain, and he’ll be re-evaluated in one week. Obviously, that means Ant will miss Monday night’s matchup with the Nuggets, and it puts his status in serious doubt for the rematch on November 15th.
It’s a brutal blow for the T-Wolves, who are coming off consecutive Western Conference Finals appearances. They were hoping to turn the corner this season and truly rise to elite contender status. That may still be possible, but it just got a lot harder as the team will have to tread water for at least a week without their young superstar.
Nuggets miss measuring stick opportunity
While one could easily spin this injury news as positive for the Nuggets, I’d argue the opposite is true. Of course, they are much more likely to win on Monday night, but they’ve lost a great early-season chance to see how they stack up with their biggest rival, and a team that has unquestionably had their number in recent years.
Now, this is almost a no-win situation for Denver. If they cruise to victory, it will be passed aside as meaningless, as beating the Wolves without Edwards is (ALMOST!) like beating the Nuggets without Jokic.
But if the Nuggets somehow don’t win, then it will suddenly be viewed as a pathetic loss to a team that’s missing their lone All-NBA caliber player. It would further the narrative that the Wolves own the Nuggets, and be one more feather in the cap of Tim Connelly, who seems to have made it his mission to stick it to Denver every chance he gets.
It’s also a shame for Jon Wallace, the co-leader of the Nuggets’ front office, who was poached away from Connelly and Minnesota in the offseason. I’m sure this game means a little extra to him, and he would have loved to go in there and steal one from his former team, but without Edwards in the mix, the value in that just doesn’t quite feel the same.
Hopefully, for everyone’s sake, this absence is mostly precautionary, and Ant will be back on the court, making highlight reel plays like we’re used to. Then, the Nuggets can beat this team at full strength and feel good about it.