Nuggets vs. Timberwolves score, takeaways: Nikola Jokic's 40-point masterpiece lifts Denver to Game 5 win

Nikola Jokic scored 40 points, added 13 assists and led the Denver Nuggets to a 112-97 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of their second-round NBA playoff series on Tuesday night. The Nuggets have won three games in a row to take a 3-2 series lead, and the reigning champs are one win away from a return trip to the Western Conference finals.

Jokic received his third MVP trophy in a pregame ceremony, and he went out and played like it. It was the first time Jokic scored 40 points in these playoffs and marked his first career playoff game with more than 35 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Jokic had 16 of his points in the third quarter as the Nuggets built a double-digit lead, and he had no trouble consistently scoring over Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

The Timberwolves were without starting guard Mike Conley in the Game 5 loss. Anthony Edwards, meanwhile, had his worst game of the series, finishing with 18 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

The Wolves will try to keep their season alive at home in Thursday's Game 6. Here are the biggest takeaways from Game 5.

It's Nikola's league, we're all just living in it

Nikola Jokic just became the first player in NBA history to score or assist on 70 total points without committing a single turnover in a playoff game. He did that against the No. 1 defense in the NBA, featuring a four-time Defensive Player of the Year. When asked after Game 1 how the Nuggets could handle Minnesota's trio of centers in Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid, he responded that Denver would need to "have a duplicate clone of myself."

Well, one Jokic was good enough for the Nuggets on Tuesday. He finished the game with 40 points and 13 assists. He had as many missed shots (seven) as he had rebounds. What's most impressive here is the way in which he did it. The Timberwolves through every imaginable coverage at him. He torched Gobert one-on-one (he made eight of his nine shots with Gobert as his primary defender). When they put Towns on him with Gobert as a roamer, he killed them as a passer. Naz Reid and Kyle Anderson got shots against him in both one-on-one and double situations. Nothing mattered.

In his last six playoff series, Jokic has faced a four-time Defensive Player of the Year in Gobert twice, a former Defensive Player of the Year runner-up in Anthony Davis twice, an All-Defense pick in Bam Adebayo and a former No. 1 overall pick in Deandre Ayton. None of them have had any answers. There are no answers. You might be able to beat the Nuggets by slowing down everyone else and making all of your own shots, but there's no strategy, no defender, no solution whatsoever to Jokic. The MVP is unstoppable.

Anthony Edwards finally hits the wall

Speaking of unstoppable stars, Anthony Edwards certainly looked like he fit that bill entering Game 5. He was averaging 32.1 points per game on 56% shooting this postseason before Tuesday. He's passed every test the playoffs have thrown his way thus far, and Tuesday was by far the biggest. The Timberwolves had just lost two in a row at home. Now they were playing the defending champs on the road without starting point guard Mike Conley. Minnesota's one hope of winning was a huge Edwards game.

And he just didn't have it in him. Edwards finished the game 5-of-15 from the floor for 18 points. He racked up nine assists without Conley, but Denver played him to pass. He frequently saw a second defender when he tried to navigate screens. His jump shot, which has gone in more this postseason than the numbers suggest that it should, finally cooled off. He managed to get to the line, which saved his night offensively, but otherwise, it was a real struggle against Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

It's easy to forget that Edwards is still only 22. Players that young aren't supposed to be burdened with expectations this high. That Edwards looked ready for the moment for so long is a testament to what an outlier he's been this postseason. But Jokic is at the absolute peak of his powers. He's figured out how to solve any defense. Edwards is still a few years away from that point, and that's OK. Every superstar has a moment or two like this. That won't make it hurt any less if the Nuggets close out the series in the next two games, but it's just a fact of NBA life. The 22-year-old rarely makes it through an entire postseason unscathed.