Getty Anthony Edwards has the Wolves back in the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2004.
The Minnesota Timberwolves social media team rubbed it in after Anthony Edwards and company stunned the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 on May 19.
The Wolves’ social media team changed its X account logo to a wolf eating chicken nuggets, and the team added a meme boulders fell to seal a cave opening followed by a fire burning up the Nuggets logo. In addition, Wolves social media wrote “took down the reigning champs” above the wolf-shaped cave opening.
TOOK DOWN THE REIGNING CHAMPS.
Minnesota completed a historic 20-point comeback from 58-38 down in the third quarter to win 98-90 in Denver. Six Wolves scored in double figures to make Denver the fifth-straight defending champion to go down in the second round.
Edwards said he felt confident after Rudy Gobert nailed a basket for a 79-75 lead with 7:42 to go in the game. It aided the biggest Game 7 comeback in 25 years.
“When Rudy hit the turnaround, I was like ‘ yeah, we probably got ‘em’… I know that’d kill you, that’d kill your whole everything,” Edwards told reporters after the game.
T-Wolves Didn’t Need an Anthony Edwards ‘A’ Game in Finale
Edwards didn’t need to be Superman in Game 7 as multiple Wolves stepped. Jaden McDaniels and Karl-Anthony Towns scored a team-high 23 points apiece while Edwards only had 16 points. Gobert finished with 13 points, Naz Reid added 11 points, and Mike Conley chipped in 10 points.
“It was tough, man, because I couldn’t find myself, my rhythm tonight,” Edwards told reporters after the game. “So I just had to trust my teammates. … I just had to make the right plays throughout the rest of the game. I did that and my teammates made shots. Big shout-out to those guys.”
Edwards contributed in other ways with eight defensive rebounds and two steals. He also limited Nuggets star Jamal Murray to 11 points in the second half.
Anthony Edwards strip steal on Jamal Murray + transition dunk, wow
“There’s more ways to win the basketball game when you’re just not an offensive player,” Edwards said. “I’m not one-dimensional. I’m not just a guy who can score. I’m a guy who — whoever their best guard is, I can go lock him down. I feel like I did that on Jamal in the fourth quarter — in the third quarter and fourth quarter — and that’s what turned the game around.”
The defending NBA champions mustered 14 points in the third quarter overall and 37 points for the second half. The Wolves kept the Nuggets to the outside in the third quarter with just four baskets in the paint, which bought the Wolves time to rally.
“It feels great,” Gobert told reporters. “Beating a team like they are, an incredible team, a championship team, with the best player in the world, it feels good.
Wolves Return to Conference Finals for 1st Time in 20 Years
Minnesota returns to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 20 years. The Wolves ousted the Sacramento Kings in Game 7 for the 2004 Western Conference semifinals to advance, but Minnesota came up short in the conference finals to the Los Angeles Lakers.
That Lakers squad had the tandem of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant coached by Phil Jackson. This time around, the Wolves get the Dallas Mavericks led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.