Nuggets: We can't let Edwards' supporting cast get hot again or it'll be an early exit for champs

DENVER (AP) — It wasn't so much another slow start or Anthony Edwards' 43 points that bothered Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone after the Minnesota Timberwolves thumped the reigning NBA champions 106-99 in the opener of the second-round series Saturday night.

It was more how the Nuggets allowed Edwards' hot hand to ignite his supporting cast as the Wolves improved to 5-0 in the playoffs and sent the Nuggets to a series deficit, something they never had last year while winning it all.

“Yeah, I wasn't worried about the start. It was 18-4. Jamal Murray didn't practice all week, couldn't make a shot. I'm more worried about our second-half defense,” said Malone, whose team will try to even the series Monday night in Game 2.

“I think at one point they were shooting 90%" after halftime.

The Timberwolves finished with a 73.7% clip in the third quarter, and those 14 baskets in 19 shots helped them erase a 44-40 halftime deficit and take a 73-68 lead into the fourth quarter, where Minnesota stayed hot, hitting 13 of 19 shots.

That's 27 of 38 in the second half for a 71% shooting clip.

“Naz Reid got going. Karl-Anthony Towns got going. Mike Conley got going — where Anthony Edwards carried the day in that first half," Malone said. “But second half I just felt not nearly enough discipline and physicality and they were able to get whatever they wanted.

“Seventy-one percent in the second half of a playoff game is unacceptable.”

Especially when Jamal Murray, the hero of Denver's first round against the Lakers, had zero points at halftime — his first scoreless half in his 59th career playoff game — and finished with 17 points. Nikola Jokic had 32 and Michael Porter Jr. 20.

“It seemed like they made a lot of shots, especially the second half,” Jokic said. “Some of them were open. Some of them were not open. It's part of basketball. We need to do a better job with that, just make them make tougher shots maybe or make an extra pass, just to make them work more for the basket.”

Edwards scored 25 of his 43 points in the first half, but he had very little help from his teammates until they came out of the locker room and couldn't miss.

“It'll be a quick exit if we allow four guys to get off like that," Malone said. "So, ANT's going to get his. We can do a much better job” on everyone else.

Here’s how hot the Wolves were after halftime: Edwards was the only Minnesota player to miss more than one shot — and he was 7 for 12.

It's always difficult to double Edwards and get the ball out of his hands. because the Wolves had a high-powered offense in which all five starters averaged double figures in points in their first-round sweep of Phoenix.

“I mean, any good team has multiple weapons,” Porter said. “One thing that makes us successful is when teams double Joker, we've got capable guys that can make shots” and make them pay.

“Similar with them. If you double ANT, he may be swinging the ball to KAT or Mike Conley or Jaden McDaniels, all capable guys. So, it's definitely a balance and something we've got to look at on film.”

The Nuggets went 10-1 at home on their way to winning the franchise's first NBA championship last summer and 3-0 at Ball Arena against the Lakers in Round 1 this year.

“Yeah, we definitely want to bounce back, especially in our home arena,” said Porter. “We've got to lock in from the jump. We know this team is very good, and we know it's going to be a long series. And it's going to be a good series. We've just got to get the next one.”

Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori, who filled in on the sideline for Chris Finch, who's recovering from knee surgery that forced him to sit in the second row, said the emphasis in Round 1 was on slowing the Sun's fast starts but against Denver, they had to focus on curbing Denver's prowess of closing out opponents in the fourth quarter.

“So, we went from starting games to closing games and just talking about taking care of the basketball, making sure we get good shots," Nori said.

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Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, right, walks with crutches as guard Anthony Edwards, left, looks on in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) drives past Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) as forward Aaron Gordon (50) blocks the lane in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, fights for control of the ball with Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, front right, in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns gestures to the bench as a timeout is called in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch uses crutches to head to the bench in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, right, shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, left, in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards reacts after hitting a basket in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, right, looks to pass the ball as Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. defends in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) walks away from Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori after a brief exchange in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A divisive mobilization law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive that some fear could close in on Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country. It also provides incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses or money toward buying a house or car, that some analysts say Ukraine cannot afford.

Lawmakers dragged their feet for months and only passed the law in mid-April, a week after Ukraine lowered the age for men who can be drafted from 27 to 25. The measures reflect the growing strain that more than two years of war with Russia has had on Ukraine’s forces, who are trying to hold the front lines in fighting that has sapped the country’s ranks and stores of weapons and ammunition.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also signed two other laws Friday, allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers fivefold. Russia enlisted its prisoners early on in the war, and personnel shortages compelled Ukraine to adopt the new, controversial measures.

Oleksii, 68, who runs a car repair shop in Kyiv, worries his business will have to shut down as he expects 70% of his workers will be mobilized. He asked that only his first name be used to allow him to speak freely.

“With the new law, people will be mobilized and we will have to shut down and stop paying taxes,” Oleksii told The Associated Press on Saturday. He said it's very difficult to replace workers because of their specialized skills. Most of them are already in the armed forces, he said, adding that the law is “unfair” and “unclear.”

Even essential municipal services will be affected. Viktor Kaminsky, the head of a municipal service department in Kyiv that fits households with heating and repairs utilities in public buildings, said he will struggle to replace mobilized staff and meet demand, even though the law allows him to retain half of workers deemed fit for service.

He said 60 of the 220 people working in Kaminsky's department will be eligible to be called up. “If they take 30 people from what we have, the problem is we don’t have anyone to replace them," he said.

“There are pros and cons to this law,” Kaminsky said. “It's hard to avoid the mobilization process now, compared to before when people were trying to get around it.” But, he said, it would be better if essential workers like his were granted more exemptions.

Ukraine has struggled for months to replenish depleted forces, as Russian troops are pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front in the northeast and put further pressure on Kyiv’s overstretched military. After weeks of probing, Moscow launched the new push knowing that Ukraine suffered personnel shortages, and that its forces have been spread thin in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that the Russian push aims to create “a buffer zone” rather than capturing Kharkiv, the local capital and Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Still, Moscow’s forces have pummeled Kharkiv with strikes in recent weeks, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure and prompting angry accusations from Zelenskyy that the Russian leadership sought to reduce the city to rubble. On Friday, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that Russian guided bombs killed at least three residents and injured 28 others that day.

Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands have died or suffered injuries in the more than 27 months of fighting.

The U.S. last week announced a new $400 million package of military aid for Ukraine, and President Joe Biden has promised that he would rush badly needed weaponry to the country to help it stave off Russian advances. Still, only small batches of U.S. military aid have started to trickle into the front line, according to Ukrainian military commanders, who said it will take at least two months before supplies meet Kyiv’s needs to hold the line.

Rusyn is the head of recruitment for the 3rd Assault Brigade, one of the most popular among Ukrainian volunteers. He told AP that he saw a 15% increase in men joining the brigade, which fights in eastern Ukraine, in the past months. Most recruits are aged between 23-25, he said. For security reasons, he and his recruits asked to be identified by their call signs only.

“There is no alternative (to mobilization),” said Rohas, a 26-year old recruit. “One way or another, I believe that most men will end up in the ranks of the armed forces and by joining as a volunteer, you still get some preferences.”

“Those who are afraid of being mobilized are not the ones hostage to this situation, it's those (soldiers) who are standing in formations of three where there should be 10. Those guys are hostages to this situation and they should be replaced, so that’s why we are here," Rohas said.

Many Ukrainians have fled the country to avoid the draft since Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022.

The Supreme Court last month said that 930 people were convicted of avoiding mobilization in 2023, a fivefold increase from the previous year.

Around 768,000 Ukrainian men aged 18-64 had been granted temporary protection in European Union countries as of last November, according to data from the bloc's statistical agency, Eurostat.

Kyiv has barred men under 60 from leaving the country since the start of the war, but some are exempt, including those who are disabled or have three or more dependents. The Eurostat data does not specify how many of the men who have qualified for protection belong to these categories, nor how many others reached the EU from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories in the east and south.

Unable to cross the border legally, some Ukrainian men risk death trying to swim across a river that separates Ukraine from neighboring Romania and Hungary.

Late on Friday, Ukraine’s border service said that at least 30 people have died trying to cross the Tisza River since the full scale-invasion.

Romanian border guards days earlier retrieved the near-naked, disfigured body of a man that appeared to have been floating in the Tisza for days, and is the 30th known casualty, the Ukrainian agency said in an online statement. It said the man has not yet been identified.

Kozlowska reported from London. Associated Press writer Alex Babenko in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed to this report.

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Newly recruited soldiers of the 3rd assault brigade train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Newly recruited soldiers of the 3rd assault brigade train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A newly recruited soldier of the 3rd assault brigade trains, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Newly recruited soldiers of the 3rd assault brigade train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Newly recruited soldiers of the 3rd assault brigade train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Oleksii, 68, director of the auto repair shop poses for photo in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 18, 2024. A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A newly recruited soldier of the 3rd assault brigade trains, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. A divisive mobilisation law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Smoke rises after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People walk on a street while smoke rises after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Foreign journalists report from an observation point while smoke rises after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)