On Sunday evening, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 20-point comeback win over Nikola Jokic and the reigning-champion Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of their conference semifinals series.
The Nuggets controlled this one over the first 2 1/2 quarters before a third-quarter surge by the Timberwolves rapidly got them back in the game, and although Edwards had a rough shooting night from the field at 25 percent, he got enough help from his Minnesota teammates to propel his team to their first NBA Final Four in 20 years.
Toward the end of the game, one viral moment occurred when Edwards waved goodbye to the Denver fans as he dribbled out the shot clock (before passing it to teammate Jaden McDaniels, who inexplicably attempted a dunk despite the Nuggets appearing to concede the loss.
After the moment, TNT cameras caught Edwards and Jokic having an animated conversation that didn't appear to be particularly cordial just moments before the game ended.
Now, newly released audio has unearthed exactly what they said during the exchange.
“Why, why?” said Jokic, per LegendZ on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
“Why what?” countered Edwards.
“Why did you wave at the crowd,” wondered the Joker.
Edwards' response to that question was to simply point at the scoreboard, which showed the Timberwolves just seconds away from reaching the conference finals for the first time since Kevin Garnett did so exactly 20 years to the day before Sunday.
A shocking run
While the Timberwolves were viewed as a team with a lot of talent, the general consensus regarding them heading into the season was that they were a squad that was less than the sum of their parts, an odd collection of talent that didn't necessarily work together.
However, none of that has been evident so far in this playoff run, as the Timberwolves first swept Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns out of the postseason before dispatching Jokic and the Nuggets in what was one of the wildest series in recent NBA history.
While Edwards may be the head of the snake, he certainly has a mini All-Star team at his disposal in his Timberwolves teammates, and Jokic acknowledged as much after the Game 7 loss.
“From the bench, they have a Sixth Man of the Year. … [They are] one team that they can do literally everything. They can be big, small,” said Jokic, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
The Timberwolves now advance to play the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals with a trip to the Finals at stake, with the winner more than likely taking on the Boston Celtics in that round unless one of the wildest upsets in NBA history occurs on the other side of the bracket.
In that matchup, it will be imperative that Edwards is a bit more efficient than he was in the Nuggets series and that his supporting cast continues to knock down their open jumpers generated from the defensive attention that Edwards draws.
Game 1 is Wednesday evening.
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