Getty

Anthony Edwards reacts during a Timberwolves game as his injury remains a concern before Game 4.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards will undergo tests on his injured left knee on Sunday after he sustained a hyperextension during the 1112-96 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 on Saturday.

Several sports medicine experts have suspected that the “best case scenario” for Edwards would be either a sprain or a bone bruise, while the worst outcome would be a torn ACL or PCL. If Edwards is diagnosed with the latter, he is at risk of missing not only the entire playoffs but also most of next season, based on past timelines for players with similar injuries.

If Edwards has suffered a sprain, he could realistically be back for the Timberwolves’ ongoing playoff run. However, a bone bruise — while a better outcome than a torn ACL — would potentially rule the All-Star guard for several weeks.

Earlier this season, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic missed nearly an entire month after sustaining a left knee bone bruise due to a hyperextension.

Anthony Edwards Return Timeline

Sports medicine professional Deepak Chona does not see Edwards returning even if it’s a “best-case scenario” for the Timberwolves star.

“Even in the best case scenario of a sprain/bone bruise, he’s still likely missing at least the rest of this series. Fingers crossed for good news, although the video doesn’t give major optimism,” Chona wrote on X while analyzing footage of Edwards’ injury.

NBA writer Dusty Garza laid out the possible Anthony Edwards return timeline based on the varying scenarios.

Best case: minor sprain (1–7 days)

Realistic: bone bruise (2–4 weeks)

Worst case: ligament damage (season-ending)

The one thing working in the Timberwolves’ favor is that they are not under pressure to bring Edwards back entering Game 5 after seizing a 3-1 series lead on Saturday. As such, they could realistically survive the Nuggets series and give Edwards a week or 10 days to rehab his knee before the second round. Of course, all those projections wouldn’t matter if Edwards is diagnosed with a bone bruise or ligament damage.

Anthony Edwards Injury Update

The Timberwolves are definitely not lacking in confidence. After Edwards’ injury, Jaden McDaniels said his team promised their star teammate at halftime that they’d take care of the Nuggets in his absence, which they did.

“I just told him we’re going to win for him and we’ll handle business,” McDaniels said after the game, via Andrew Dukowitz.

“I didn’t even ask him what happened or nothing, I just told him we were going to win the game.”

The Timberwolves’ win was all the more impressive because they lost another starter, Donte DiVincenzo, just 79 seconds into Game 4 to an Achilles injury.