The second-round series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets in the 2024 NBA Playoffs had everything. It featured a three-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, the defending champions, a player the internet likes to think is the second coming of His Airness, and two unicorns. Even off the court, the series entertained. Take for example the postgame press conference following the Timberwolves' 98-90 Game 7 win in Mile High City on Sunday night.
Minnesota stars' comical reaction to reporter's question steals the show
In the said press conference following their Game 7 success in Denver, Timberwolves stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Edwards fielded questions from reporters, including one who wanted to know if
“Usually in NBA history, you have to lose and lose big before you win, what is it about this team…” Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports asked the duo before getting interrupted by Towns who underscored that Minnesota just “lost last year [2023 NBA Playoffs] to the same team the Timberwolves just took down.
“But that’s different, you have to lose at a bigger stage, usually. Teams usually…” Goodwill tried to elaborate only to get met with another interjection from Towns, who said “It’s the playoffs! We lost last year!”
“We lost the last two years too!” Edwards added.
“G*****n! How much more we got to lose? We’ve been losing for 20 years!” Towns continued.
“How much you want us to lose? I mean, that’s just the truth, dawg,” Edwards weaved between Towns' answers.
For what it's worth, Goodwill did not take any offense.
“To be fair, they let me ask the question and answered it,” Goodwill later posted on his X (the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter).
Towns showed up to play for the Timberwolves in Game 7, as he scored 23 points while connecting on eight of his 13 attempts from the field. He also pulled down 12 rebounds to go with two assists, two steals, and a block in 39 minutes.
Edwards struggled with his shot, going just 6/24 from the field for 16 points but his impact on the game can't be captured alone by box scores. Despite his inefficient offense, Edwards provided the intangibles that helped the Timberwolves turn things around in the second half.
Edwards led the Timberwolves in the series with 27.7 points per game, while Towns had 18.6 points through seven games.
For all the heartbreaks he's experienced in the years he's spent with Minnesota, that victory over the defending champions must have tasted way more than just sweet revenge against its 2023 playoffs conquerors. To some extent, that win was the culmination of the hard work Towns put in despite repeated failures of the team in the past.
The mission is certainly far from over for Towns, Edwards, and the Timberwolves, but winning the second round was the most success Minnesota has had in two decades. Not since the 2003-04 MVP season of Kevin Garnett had the Timberwolves booked a ticket to the Western Conference Finals. And now, they are about to play in a conference finals series. Four more wins and the Timberwolves will make their way to the franchise's first-ever NBA Finals berth.
After eliminating the defending champs, Minnesota will next play the Dallas Mavericks in the West finals series that begins on Wednesday at the Timberwolves' home, Target Center in Minneapolis.
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