How Anthony Edwards & Timberwolves STUNNED Nikola Jokic & Nuggets in Game 7 | Hoops Tonight 

Ant is such a character for pumping Jaden in front of KAT (like at end of Nuggets series). One, he's trying to get Jaden pumped up, but also, I suspect he wants KAT to compete to be Batman's Robin.

@@user-lb4gd4dw7lwtf are you talking about Lmaoo

Wolves got 30 free throw attempts to the Nuggets 16. If there was an officiating issue it certainly wasn't tilted v the Wolves. It's hilarious to me always how some fans are so wildly biased that they're able to will themselves to believe the exact opposite of what actually happened.

​@@tompratt7125 Free throws are your barometer? That's dumb. Wolves were MUCH more aggressive and driving, hence more shooting fouls. Wolves got called for a TON of fouls, but a lot less were on shooters. Wolves also had more awful calls go against them on both ends. Don't be a blind homer and base your opinion on a box score.

@@tompratt7125 The number of free throw attempts shouldn't be your standard for finding out bad officiating. Stop with that nonsense.

​@@tompratt7125 Jaden literally didn't TOUCH Murray on a foul he got 3 shots on.

@@penn0116 Nuggets had more points in the paint 42 to 34. Both teams ended with roughly the same number of fouls (21 to 23) but the wolves got 30 FT to 16 FT. And 15 of those came in the 4 qtr vs 2 for nuggets when the game was close. Bad officiating goes both ways but to say wolves got the short end of stick feels reaching to me when the numbers indicate otherwise.

That waving to the crowd was kinda lame (immature) Mostly am learning to like him~~

@@zebo11that shit was funny if you not a Denver fan lol

​@@zebo11Personality in sports isn't a bad thing.

Give it time they will. Just like the did Steph.

his kid looking down on him in heaven saying 'why dad?'

they also have the KATwoman

Y'all making Minnesota like they are superteams or something...

​@@giannisksanthopoulos4300 maybe you'll realize how super they are after they beat the Mavericks in 4 or 5. This team is special.

The Timberwolves are a superteam​@@giannisksanthopoulos4300

Yeah dudes the biggest flip flopper it's obnoxious

I would still trade them. He's the weak link on this roster. Gets paid too much for all the mistakes he makes. They lucky Gobert sealed the game... couldve went either way.

If KAT made a team friendly deal it wouldn’t be bad at all. But a max contract? If we win a ring he’s going to be asking for nothing but a max contract.

​@@Krazyman5150ninja decent trolling

@@bossaudio12 who trolling? Gobert turnaround shot .. that backboard shot.. and his freethrows took the life out that nuggets team.

Nice

When you look at the game as a whole, that's not what happened, that's just the bandwagon narrative surrounding him right now. He used up 24 shots last night, hit only 8, that was actually terrible. He was mature enough not to embarrass himself any further.

@@AbcDino843 it's acceptable as no 1 option in a team, can't imagine if he hesitates to take those shots, and he was looking for teammates facing double. What I remember is he hesitated a 3 and passed last summer in Team USA, I guess it's the final minute in their last game. That sucks cuz he obviously was the best one in that team and not taking the shot.

​@@AbcDino843You do realize they are other elements to basketball besides scoring?

Same man I avoided social media altogether

How is there window closing lol. This season is the biggest anomaly since 2004 pistons. Every big name is bounced in the playoffs besides Luka. The way Denver lost can be fixed. They lost their poise but when was locked in was clearly the better team. As long as you have the best player in the series you always have a chance. Joker is by far the best player in the world. They fix some things there easily in the mix and most likely will still be favored next year

@@kalenmarshall8692 they'll be contenders next yr i agree. but i think min okc are almost certainly going to getter every year from here on out and you still have luka and memphis etc... this yr was a harder path than last yr for den and it will only get harder n harder for denver my money is on okc for the future of the west tbh. i juts like their roster construction and their war chest of picks

Facts they jumping thru loops to find excuses 😂😂😂

Thank you!!!!

@@indugoo62298 Nuggets lost in a crazy 7 game series, but they still your daddy.

They were talking crazy 😂

Tbf they were cooking all the good teams in the regular season too. Timberwolves went up another level no one expected. Unless you gon sit here and tell me you had t wolves going to the wcf before the playoffs 🤨

@@montyq9857I did cus I had them next to the nuggets since january

I have some troubling news for you, many times the number one seed will play lower seeds

@@skylertaylor7283 but not usually in the conference finals and finals like they did last year. Both the Lakers and Heat were play-in teams.

Ant plays defense Jokic is a traffic cone

@@ny3793 Ant chucked 34 balls last night, he shot 23%.

@@AbcDino843nice job adding a phantom 10 shots. He shot 6/24

@@ItachiX11 my bad, the percentage though is still terrible.

@@AbcDino843Ain’t no my bad! You got exposed for lacking knowledge of the sport! This is what’s wrong with Denver fans, most of y’all are tennis fans disguised as nba fans. The lack of knowledge for the game is very prevalent in y’all fan base. The game is 2 sided which is the reason wolves beat y’all. Ant a way better defender than Jokic. Jokic who y’all gloat outscored him, cost them defensively multiple positions. Scoring means nothing when defending is terrible.

Definitely way better than kd arguable about steph

Jokic went for 29/11/8 on 50%fg against the best defense in years. Steph Curry got shutdown by the Lakers in 2023 against a backcourt of Dlo and Reaves guarding him. Meanwhile Jokic puts the Nuggets in position to almost win the series against a team with the beat playoff defense in more than a decade. - LeBron' a playoff career is essentially getting the best possible teammates (Wade, a former champion and finals MVP, Kyrie the best point guard in the East at the time and AD a guy argued as a top 5 player in the league in 2019). Jokic hasn't won as much as them but he also wasn't privileged like them to have the best supporting cast and playing their prime in weaker conferences.

But his main strength is in things that don't require athleticism, so on paper at least, he might have a longer shelf life than most. I share the concern regarding the roster. They need REALLY good perimeter shooters.

@@AbcDino843 People say players don't rely on athleticism all the time and they should have a longer career, but it rarely plays out that way. Maybe Joker will prove me wrong, but I honestly think his game can't afford for him to slow down too much.

@@wy100101 I don't know, it certainly seems like the more athletic ones get injured more. I don't see his passing suffering, or his ability to read plays. His game is not excessively based on driving, and he's already slower than most. If he does slow down, he can always put more emphasis on the 3-point shooting. I think the greater risk for him is losing interest in basketballs sooner than others.

@@AbcDino843He still has to run up and down the court. He will be getting older but the 22 yo’s are 22. So they will be running and he will be playing catch up. I feel like his wall is coming soon. He has been doing this a long time already.

@@Dustyphoto915 I don't see it. He's the fourth in the league by minutes played this season, and he still managed to hit his numbers and win the MVP. That does not scream "wall" to me. Last night he got tired for sure, but he played one minute short of the full game, and he was doubled the whole time. He is in a tremendous shape for a guy his size. Remember what Draymond Green said about him after playing him. That's not to say that the Nuggets can't run him into the ground with the output they're requiring of him, but it's a reasonable expectation that he will get a relief in the future, like another center that can actually play so he can rest during a game.

Yes dollar dame beat him some years ago..

Facts plus he Bern swept 2x times too in his prime 😂

Jokic went for 29/11/8 on 50%fg against the best defense that has four all NBA first team caliber defenders. Steph Curry got shutdown by the Lakers in 2023 against a backcourt of Dlo and Reaves guarding him. Meanwhile Jokic puts the Nuggets in position to almost win the series against a team with the beat playoff defense in more than a decade. - LeBron' a playoff career is essentially getting the best possible teammates (Wade, a former champion and finals MVP, Kyrie the best point guard in the East at the time and AD a guy argued as a top 5 player in the league in 2019). Jokic hasn't won as much as them but he also wasn't privileged like them to have the best supporting cast and playing their prime in weaker conferences.

​@@hilamadventures4060 CJ*

When your legs are weak there is no lift on the shot..from that far.

Completely agreed. He also said that he was better than prime Steph, Kobe, and LeBron. This was the most hyped I’ve ever seen Jason be on anyone off of one championship when he claims that multiple matter 😂 he was ready to put Jokic over Steph all time I promise you that

wrd jokic n giannis are neck n neck all time rn

@@taylor7264 agreed

Jokic went for 29/11/8 on 50%fg against the best defense in year that has four all NBA first team caliber defenders. Steph Curry got shutdown by the Lakers in 2023 against a backcourt of Dlo and Reaves guarding him. Meanwhile Jokic puts the Nuggets in position to almost win the series against a team with the beat playoff defense in more than a decade.

BANDWAGON

what did he acomplish?

@@user-ci7vu7eo9w ant is an amazing player and fun to watch. Not sure what else you are looking for here.

@@yahcrack nah my team is the warriors, the nba is a superstar league which is why playoffs are fun to watch with or without my team in it. U know in like 2017 ish people used to say i am bandwagon fan and maybe there is truth to that, but also i lived like 5 miles from oracle. There is no rule that says you are only allowed to like NBA players on your team.

@@kennybobby201What I’m sayin NBA is a players league most ppl root for a team based off who they fav player is.

I forgot to add that they would trading for Mikal Bridges lol

MPJ will make 35M next season, Nets would need to add more to match salaries and I doubt they will

@@jdelgado216 Mikal is making around 25M, add in schroder or someone else and you are good to go!

So u think Denver threw the game? U think Mike Malone & Jamal sold the game.. LMOA..

@@hilamadventures4060 that’s not what sold means in basketball. Sold means they choked under pressure

I think part of the problem is that he's too valuable to the team, and staying out of foul trouble is a consideration. He is getting a ton of rebounds though.

Played all but 1 minute in a game 7 at the mile high city. It’s not exactly surprising. That said, his dominance is in part attributable to his size. Lose weight = slightly less dominant but slightly better conditioned. Not worth it.

Jokic went for 29/11/8 on 50%fg against the best defense that has four all NBA first team caliber defenders. Steph Curry got shutdown by the Lakers in 2023 against a backcourt of Dlo and Reaves guarding him. Meanwhile Jokic puts the Nuggets in position to almost win the series against a team with the beat playoff defense in more than a decade. - LeBron' a playoff career is essentially getting the best possible teammates (Wade, a former champion and finals MVP, Kyrie the best point guard in the East at the time and AD a guy argued as a top 5 player in the league in 2019). Jokic hasn't won as much as them but he also wasn't privileged like them to have the best supporting cast and playing their prime in weaker conferences.

Yeah in a weak eastern Conference

​@@infinitywar3065 Weak eastern conf so tell me why Boston hasn't reached 4 straight, explain why Giannis,KD,Embid ,Butler haven't able to duplicate that success. Stop hating on the dude because we'll u don't like how he walks or talks..learn to appreciate a great player regardless of your feelings. That is a person who understands basketball.

Facts 💯

@@hilamadventures4060 who was the best player Bron faced in the East?

Excuses for Jokic all day long

But he did show up.. defensively. So they won. If he doesn’t, they lose.

@@rohw0016his defense doesn’t outshine the fact that he was 6-24 and like their 4th best offensive player

Casuals don't want to hear about role players. Sad, but true.

@@Matt4pf what does that tell you then when our best player didn’t have a good game we came back from the largest deficit in game seven history

Even Ant gave credit to Kat, Rudy, and all the role players. Sounds like you’re jealous of all the attention he gets.

No one said ant did great they said he does a great job impacting the game in other ways when his shot isn’t falling

lol that’s how you know you didn’t watch the game. Brother watching the box score not the game 😂

@@jirehf.8682 facts are facts.

@@kjwdog7453 that's literally the case with every player ever who failed at one aspect of their game. He got shut down last night.

@@AbcDino843 I don’t think the narrative was he had an amazing game, he had great impact despite having an off night. That’s why stats don’t mean everything. Yes he had an off shooting night but he didn’t let that affect the impact of the rest of the game, Ant just keeping playing like he was the best player on the court.

Jokic was better than any other player in the league could be in this series. If you put AD or LeBron on this Nuggets team they would have gotten swept. Jokic went for 29/11/8 on 50%fg against the best defense in year that has four all NBA first team caliber defenders. Steph Curry got shutdown by the Lakers in 2023 against a backcourt of Dlo and Reaves guarding him. Meanwhile Jokic puts the Nuggets in position to almost win the series against a team with the beat playoff defense in more than a decade.

@@johnbarkley925 i never said jok wasnt a great player but i always considered giannis a better player bc he plays great defense. protects the rim. pressures the rim off the dribble. is a better scorer in terms of being able to do it at volume and efficiency w consistency. KAT could never in a million yrs gaurd giannis as well as jokic. none of the wolves bigs wouldve done as well guarding giannis as they did joker. and giannis is a good passer. not jokic good but goo jok is just a tiny bit behind giannis all time imo too. but jokic is a great player. never said he wasnt and if some1 disagrees w me and thinks jok > giannis i wouldnt say thats crazy. there is an argument for that. whats frustrating is trying to make an argument for giannis and ppl respond saying "no jokic a great shooter and a good defender" etc...thats just not true. and the playmaking point abt creating shots for others off the dribble is a nuanced basketball point. its abt who is rly created the advantage. no doubt a healthy amount of jokic assists come on plays he didnt create the advantage for his team. and thats what lowers the impact of his passing imo. hes still an all time great floor general but these are the reasons i have giannis ahead

@@taylor7264 Taylor I don't disagree that Giannis is an all time great and that he has a lot of strengths that could help any team in the playoffs. But I don't think that against this specific Wolves team he would be better suited than Jokic. Here are the reasons why: 1) Giannis is a great defender, that is true but his strength on that end comes more as a cleaner of his teammates mistakes than either a rim protector (ala AD) or perimeter defender (Jrue etc.). He usually does not defend the other teams great perimeter players like Jimmy Butler, KD and Ant. So in this series the Nuggets still would have no one to guard Ant. 2) while I agree that Giannis is a great scorer (a 30ppg scorer) I think you have to recognize that in the fourth quarter teams that have great half court defenses (the Heat or Raptors) can slow down Giannis enough to limit his impact in that timespan. If a team with Adebayo could exploit Giannis limited shooting and limit driving angles, you don't think that a team with Rudy, Towns, McDaniels, Ant would be suited to clog driving lanes even more effectively than what the Miami Heat tend to do ? 3) Even if Giannis had success in rim attacking against this Wolves defense, his lack of shot creation (mid range, post up, three) still wouldn't help in changing the series outcomes as Giannis, kcp, Gordon wouldn't be great shooters and Mpj can be taken out of the series with phisicality.

@@johnbarkley925 first of all i appreciate this respectful basketball convo. salute to you. secondly my argument was abt jokic v giannis in general not on in the context of denver but ill go there w you: 1) giannis' role might change in another situation so you can't simply transfer his production right? but i agree giannis is mostly a clean up man - but the way he does that is by protecting the rim. how else does he clean stuff up? hes not a perimeter defender i agree there too. so either way no great match up for ant but at least giannis wouldve been there to clean up mistakes in a way jokic wasnt. thats w rim protection and defensive play making in general - helping and recovering over long distances, jumping in passing lanes etc. he also guards bigs 1v1 better whether thats naz or kat or rudy.. i believe all that wouldve made denver a significantly stronger defense 2/3) im not 100% sold that giannis instead of jokic makes denver a "better offense" if you define that by ppp when they were clicking in this series. but i do think it makes them a much more versatile offense. giannis is capable of beating his man off the dribble, in the post, as a pnr ballhandler, pnr screener, lob threat, n as a short roll scorer and passer. wolves dont have the personnel to stop any of these actions. none of their bigs can guard giannis as well as they guarded jokic. n giannis pressures the rim in all these actions which dictates that help come from rudy which opens the lob to ag (making him less of a spacing liability). if mike malone had all of giannis' tools to counter min's defensive gameplan den might have won. it was tougher on denver bc jokic basically only has 2 speeds on offense: #1(i think his best skill) operating in the short roll. hes nice with his shot making there and playmaking throwing lobs to ag and finding shooters depending on how the defense rotates. the problem is if you prevent the pocket pass hes not threat on the roll bc hes not lob threat or pick n pop threat - giannis was 27% from 3 this szn and jokic was 23% from 3 in this series (so denvers spacing doesnt change either way) #2 over the top shot making in 1v1 coverage in which case hes doesnt actually lose his man so either hes forced into a tough shot like kat n naz did to him over and over or he starts hitting and you have to send a double. howver its much easier to rotate behind a double bc essentially wolves would be compromising their own defense which allows them to plan their rotations ahead of time you might say well if min cant stop the giannis actions 1v1/2v2 then they'll most likely start doubling giannis too. thats true. difference is giannis is a threat to get down hill from the perimeter. so if they double giannis above the 3 there's much more space to play 4 on 3 on the back side. if they don't double that high he'll get downhill towards the rim and min defense wont be able to preplan their rotations. and again if he pressures the rim he boosts ag's value. if they send help from any1 else its a great open look from 3. kcp can shoot too btw the issue doubling jokic is he's only a threat from the post and doesnt pressure the rim so min was allowed to double from the high side which allowed rudy to stay in help by the rim which shuts down the ag lob (their only source of rim pressure when jamal is off). and bc ag cant shoot its even easier to rotate when jokic passes out of the double. re miami - giannis was injured and bam is a much more mobile big and is therefore a tougher matchup for gainnis than gobert or kat or naz. can teams limit giannis impact? for sure. we saw that in '22 v celtics too. he still went for 34/15/7 on 45% shooting w 2 stocks per game. thats a bad series for giannis if healthy. end of the day wolves limited jokers impact too so thats a wash i think theyre close. id rather have giannis if im denver but i can agree to disagree

@@johnbarkley925 check out the new mavs wolves film. look how min struggled to operate on the backside on bltiz's on luka HIGH. whereas wolves rotated v easily off jokic doubles from th ehigh side. look how much more space min has to cover in the mavs film

What happens to good offenses is when getting smothered by great defense, they start seeing ghosts and getting flustered. This causes misses on wide open shots which is what happened in every game that Denver lost.

@@brendenbosquez4177 having open shots have nothing to do with defense

@@user-ci7vu7eo9w having open shots doesn’t yes you’re right. Missing open shots does. When a defense is on you like paint and mauling you and cutting off passing lanes etc. your players get tired asf. And yes they miss open shots. This is why defensive intensity is so important and why effort is so important. It deflates the offense and they start missing wide open shots. This is well known and is how Minnesota has won all year long

@@brendenbosquez4177 missing open shots has nothing to do with defence.you don't know anything

@@brendenbosquez4177 True, that's what happened in this series. That's what happened to Edwards last night too though, his stats are terrible for this game, the Nuggets' defense in the first half was amazing too.

Also, sometimes nuggets offense gets stagnant. Jokic gets double teamed, he kicks it out, they either shoot a 3 or give it back to him, double team, kicks it out, end of shot clock, chuck a 3.. other players need to drive and kick as well, to create some movement

MPJ had 6 attempts from 2's And you expect to be 100% huh? Why wasn't Jokic or Murray 100%? Why was Jokic 20% from 3's So basically you expect 6 of 8 players to shoot at 100% But not for Jokic and Murray?

yes.

When players don’t play at the same level every series😱.

Nuggets fan here. It's not so much that Jokic doesn't have help and much more that he didn't get help. Even on open looks the rest of the team were in the drain this post season. The team was gassed and didn't deserve to go further this year. I'll be cheering for the wolves the rest of way. Excited for this rivalry to continue next season!

That was last year. Since then Denver lost 2 best bench players and hasn't replaced them while every other team has added significantly to their roster. Last year Denver had Bruce and Wolves didn't have Nas and Wolves barely escaped the sweep. If outside Jokic and Jamal the supporting cast scores 21 points in a game what should people say? Jokic never played with an all-star, Ant on the other hand has in his team an all-star, DPOY and 6th man of the year. That's why Wolves can win even when Ant shoots 6/24.

He just gets passes man. It is what is is. He’s so nonchalant. Like how could you put your unreasonable expectations on him?

They need to leave Brooks over on Westheimer somewhere. He makes me a very uncomfortable Rockets supporter.

@@Dustyphoto915 every team needs a guy like Dillon don’t agree with everything he do tho

Thank you been saying this. I get if they don’t want to move Murray cause of sentimental reason but MPJ is unplayable against real teams.

I agree. Murray pulls the wool over people's eyes because he throws in just enough of decent performances, but overall, he's a liability, and when Jokic is not on the court he is downright terrible. The fact that he is the 2nd guy on this team speaks volumes about the team.

Edwards did a better job of controlling the game last night than Jokic, and that's what matters. He did it with leadership, defense, and poise. Never for Ed the shit, kept setting up his teammates, erased Murray in the second half.

defense maters. Ant is a top tier defender, Jokic and Luka are liabilities. We need to count defense too

Agreed. Jokic is great but I hate when media analysts act like there is a huge gap between him and other players. To me best player in the world are like Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, Giannis, guys who are not limited to one side of the ball.

Ant is not better than Luka, he's not really close If you're still saying Luka is a liability in defence you're just excluding yourself as someone who doesn't watch the games

@@emilioreyes4159 sounds like your saying defense doesn't matter. Ant is closer to surpassing Luka who is playing better defense this post season. But you ignore his liability on defense which is asinine when comes to these discussions on what makes one player better than the other.