Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards limped out of their NBA playoff clash with the Denver Nuggets on Saturday after suffering a gruesome knee injury.
Towards the end of the second quarter, Edwards leapt up to contest a Cameron Johnson layup before landing heavily on his left leg and appearing to hyperextend his knee in a terrifying moment.
The 24-year-old guard immediately clutched his knee in agony, before he was helped back to the locker room and ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Before going down with the injury Edwards had recorded five points and three rebounds for the Timberwolves, who entered Saturday’s Game 4 with a 2-1 lead over Denver.
He had been struggling with inflammation in his right knee over the past month, forcing him to play through discomfort in the first three games of the series. Yet after not being listed as questionable on the injury report for Game 4 it appeared Edwards was on the mend.
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Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards suffered a horror knee injury on Saturday night
Edwards was helped back to the locker room during their NBA playoff clash with the Nuggets
Now the four-time NBA All-Star looks to have damaged his other knee much more severely, with Minnesota facing an anxious wait to find out how serious it is.
Edwards was not the only Minnesota guard to sustain an injury in the game, nevertheless.
Donte DiVincenzo also appeared to injure his lower right leg in the opening minutes when he slipped to the court as he raced to chase a ball. He immediately waved to the bench for help and put little to no weight on his right foot as he was helped to the locker room.
The Timberwolves said DiVincenzo would also miss the rest of the game after hobbling off early on.
Edwards averaged a team-high 23 and eight rebounds as the sixth-seeded Timberwolves took a 2-1 lead over Denver.
Losing the former No 1 pick would come as a seismic blow to Minnesota’s playoff hopes, given he is their leading scorer (28.8 points per game) and one of the team’s most influential leader on the court.
DiVincenzo had also averaged 14.3 points and made 11 of 22 3-pointers in the first three games of the series.
