The Minnesota Timberwolves secured an all-important 112-96 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. However, the postgame mood was anything but celebratory.
In an unfortunate first half at the Target Center, the Wolves lost Donte DiVincenzo to a season-ending Achilles tear, followed by a knee injury to their franchise cornerstone Anthony Edwards. How long will Edwards be out?
What Medical Experts Are Saying About Anthony Edwards’ Knee Injury
With 2:42 remaining in the second quarter, Edwards went down after awkwardly contesting a shot at the rim. The footage showed a hyperextension of his left knee upon landing.
The four-time All-Star immediately grabbed his leg in agony and needed assistance to get to the locker room, with the medical staff eventually ruling him out for the remainder of the contest.
Anthony Edwards helped off the court with and apparent knee injury pic.twitter.com/zh5YvHIU39
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) April 26, 2026
On Sunday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Edwards “has sustained a bone bruise and hyperextension in his left knee and is expected to miss multiple weeks. Results showed Edwards avoided any ligament damage, but he will now miss time.”
Initially, there was concern that Edwards may have torn his ACL, so this is a much better diagnosis. Still, it means Edwards will miss the remainder of this series against Denver and it’s possible he has played his final game of this season.
“Probably don’t see Anthony Edwards back until the last couple games of the conference finals,” sports doctor Brian Sutterer wrote on X. “Best case scenario.”
Dr. Jesse Moore echoed this sentiment that Edwards got lucky this wasn’t worse.
“He will miss several weeks but honestly this is the best case scenario,” Dr. Morse wrote on X. Whether or not the Timerwolves can survive without him (and DiVincenzo) is a separate discussion. I’m happy the NBA didn’t lose another one of its superstars to a significant career-altering injury.
I’ll be shocked if we see Anthony Edwards back this series (best case), and yes, this has the potential to be far worse. Hyperextensions are extremely hard to assess severity of from video alone compared to other injurieshttps://t.co/5oKJoH4Tio
— Brian Sutterer MD (@BrianSuttererMD) April 26, 2026
Before exiting the game, Edwards recorded 5 points and 3 rebounds in 18 minutes of action. The timing of this injury could not possibly be worse for a franchise chasing a deep postseason run.
Game 5 tips off on Monday night in Denver, leaving Minnesota with roughly 48 hours to revamp its offensive identity against a Nuggets team that has underwhelmed but is still plenty of capable of making this series interesting.
