MINNEAPOLIS – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter shutdown of Anthony Edwards until the final seconds.

Then, the Nuggets defensive stopper watched Edwards’s wide-open tying 3 in the final seconds while seated on the court. Down three with a little more than four seconds left, Minnesota’s young star raced the ball up the court down the left side, running over Caldwell-Pope in the process. With the veteran on the floor, Edwards dribbled into an open shot from the left wing. Denver’s veteran said he wasn’t trying to foul Edwards.

“He kind of just ran through me a little bit,” Caldwell-Pope said. “I didn’t know what they was going to call on that one, but (I’m) glad he missed it.”

Caldwell-Pope had to sit up and turnaround to get a look at Edwards’ shot, which came up just short. Edwards scored all 30 of his points in the first three quarters before going 0 for 4 in the fourth. Caldwell-Pope said the Nuggets didn’t do anything different than the first three quarters, as they attempted to keep the ball out Edwards’s hands. The 22-year-old dished out three assists and grabbed one rebound in the fourth to finish with eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals.

After the win, the older University of Georgia product praised the younger Bulldog.

“Top five for me, man,” Caldwell-Pope said of Edwards standing in the league. “He’s a bull. He’s a dog. He stays after it, no matter what it is. I seen him play a little defense today, too, which I didn’t expect. His game is going to continue to get better as he gets older.”

Edwards starting to slow it down like Jokic

The list of similarities shared by the Most Valuable Player candidates in Tuesday’s game is a short one, but it does exist.

For all of Nikola Jokic’s gifts, explosive athleticism isn’t one of them. That’s something Anthony Edwards has an abundance of, as witnessed by his highlight slams the last two nights.

What they do share, despite their much different vertical leaping ability is the ability to go from fast to slow and use that deceleration to help them finish.

“Both of them are physical offensive players. When you hit first, I believe you have to have the body control to play off of that. Both of them do,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said pregame. “If Joker has you off balance or off your feet, you have no chance. You got to really win the ground game on him, which is also tough to do because he’s strong, and he plays so well off of your body.”

That’s something Jokic has had in his bag for a while. He used a slow-motion euro step move for one of his nine first-half buckets.

“You cannot go fast,” Jokic said when asked about his ability to create separation despite slowing down. “In a couple of situations, I just use my size, try to push a little bit. I have a high release. I think I don’t need that much space.”

The move is a more recent development for Edwards.

“He was a 100-mile-an-hour runaway freight train downhill, and now he’s worked hard on really being able to change speeds and then have the body control,” Finch said. “That’s also a credit to what he’s doing off the floor in the weight room, working on his core strength and his balance work. That’s taken him from like just slightly above average finisher to more of an elite level.”

Gordon gives Edwards his flowers

Aaron Gordon knows something about special slams as a former dunk contest participant.

Even Gordon was impressed with Minnesota star Anthony Edwards’ highlight dunk Monday night in Utah. In the middle of the third quarter against the Jazz, Edwards scooped up a loose ball, passed the ball ahead and ran down court. He got the ball back a step outside the free throw line, took off of two feet just inside the line and posterized John Collins with a one-handed slam.

“That was crazy,” Gordon said at the morning shootaround. “That was one of them ones. That was a top-10 dunk in NBA history.”

Edwards had another impressive dunk against Denver, rising up for a put-back dunk in the middle of the first quarter Tuesday.

“Obviously, he’s always been talented, always been very, very athletic,” Justin Holiday said in the morning. “But he approaches the game like he’s trying to kill whoever’s in front of him every time he comes out there, and that’s the way I believe you’re supposed to do it.”

Division Foes still friendly faces

There’s a new member of the Denver-to-Minnesota pipeline.

Monte Morris made a couple of stops along the way in Washington and Detroit before Minnesota traded for the point guard ahead of the trade deadline. Morris became a steady reserve guard with the Nuggets after starting his career as a two-way player.

“Seeing the progress and seeing the dedication and the impact he’s had, you’re just thankful that he’s with a very good organization led by Tim Connelly and Chris Finch, having a chance to impact winning on a team that is currently tied for second place in the Western Conference,” Malone said pregame.

It’s not much of a surprise Minnesota was interested in Morris. Connelly, who leads Minnesota’s front office, and Finch, now the Timberwolves head coach, were previously members of the Nuggets organization as general manager and assistant coach, respectively. Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori is also one of Malone’s former assistants.

“I’m a little competitive, a little emotional, so they say,” Malone said pregame. “Having Micah around was so beneficial because he can balance that out. He can bring a smile to my face.”

Malone said he continues to root for all the former players who helped the Nuggets ascend the league even if they weren’t around for the championship. The Nuggets coach named Will Barton III, Isaiah Thomas and DeMarcus Cousins in addition to Morris, who was one of the first players off Minnesota’s bench Tuesday. Morris finished with eight points, three steals, two assists and a rebound against his former team.

“I root for all the guys that have come through that door, because they’ve helped me,” Malone said. “I want to see them all have success, because when you win a championship, they only give out a certain number of rings, but everybody that wore that jersey in my nine years contributed to that. You’re always thankful for that.”