Circumstances looked pretty dire for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the aftermath of their Game 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs. It looked like the Nuggets had figured them out, and it's not like playing in front of Target Center, like the Timberwolves and Nuggets would do for Game 6, gave much of an advantage to the home team. But Anthony Edwards' confidence did not waver even for just a second.

Edwards, in fact, was so confident that he and the Timberwolves would be back in Ball Arena for Game 7 that after Game 5, he told the arena staffers in Denver, with the use of expletives, that he'll be seeing them really soon. And following their 115-70 demolition of the Nuggets on Thursday night, that will certainly be the case as the two Western Conference powerhouses will square off in what should be a bloodbath of a do-or-die contest.

“Did you really tell the locker room staffer in Denver you were going to be back for Game 7?” a reporter asked Edwards during his postgame presser, via ClutchPoints Twitter (X).

The Timberwolves star answered, “Hell yeah! They know. Y'all was in there. I told them, ‘I'll see y'all motherf**kers for Game 7.'”

Now that is supreme confidence. Not too many gave the Timberwolves a chance after they lost three consecutive games for the first time this season. Nikola Jokic was in a different stratosphere in Game 5, and it seemed like the Timberwolves were helpless in stopping the Nuggets star.

But in Game 6, the Timberwolves took after Anthony Edwards and played with the mindset of a team that's not yet ready to go home quite yet. And what balls of steel Edwards has to talk smack even though the odds were mounting against them. But he has the talent to deliver on his promises anyway, so it's not like we're expecting anything else from the man seen as the second coming of Michael Jordan.

Anthony Edwards is not a front runner

In 2022, Luka Doncic dropped one of the coldest quotes in NBA history. The Dallas Mavericks star, following a loss in Game 5 of their second round matchup against the Phoenix Suns, yelled out that “everybody acting tough when they up”. Doncic was clearly plotting his revenge for the Suns after they talked some smack all series long while being in a position of advantage. We all know what happened next: the Mavericks embarrassed the Suns in their home court, sending the front-runners home with one of the worst defeats in playoff history.

Thus, the “front runner” designation was born. These are the players who run their mouths when their team is in front. Tyrese Haliburton is one of the main recipients of the front runner allegations in this year's playoffs.

But when it comes to Anthony Edwards, he was not exactly in a position to talk after the Timberwolves struggled from Games 3 to 5. Sure, it was only a bit of banter with the Ball Arena staffers, but that could have easily backfired as bulletin board material for a Nuggets team that could have used his words as motivation.

However, the greatest NBA players in history did not wait until they were ahead to engage in a bit of banter. The best players in history are confident in their skills that they drop these promises with full trust that they can deliver. And deliver, Edwards did.

Timberwolves push the Nuggets to the brink

The 2023 NBA playoffs was a bit of a cakewalk for the Nuggets. They didn't face a single team that won 44 or more games during their run to the championship, and as a result, they weren't quite pushed as much as they could have been. They took care of the Timberwolves in six games, Phoenix Suns in six, Los Angeles Lakers in four, and Miami Heat in five, being in the driver's seat all along.

But the Timberwolves have constructed a roster that can handle the Nuggets. Their length and connectiveness on the defensive end has bothered the Nuggets more than any team has over the past few years. On Thursday night, the Timberwolves went on a roll. Their defense paved the way for their offensive outburst in the first period that ended up giving them a lead they wouldn't even come close to relinquishing.

Game 7, however, will be a bloodbath. Anthony Edwards knows this; this will be his first Game 7, and he's amped up for what will be a crazy atmosphere at Ball Arena. But as young as Edwards is, expect him to approach the Timberwolves' most crucial game of the 2024 NBA playoffs to this point with supreme confidence like he does with everything that gets thrown his way.