Nuggets vs. Timberwolves is the Series We've Been Waiting For | The Bill Simmons Podcast 

Minnesota’s defense is championship caliber, it’s that good. What makes it work is if Ant plays D as hard as he does, everyone has to follow suit.

Shout out Finch and the staff for keeping Anthony growing and developing this young man!! Anthony is a smart man respect the ability to be coached.

The reason you put Towns back in for Naz at the end of the game, is because Towns plays better defense on Jokic than Naz.

Ant is such a likable young man. As a Warriors fan, its a killer to think we have to face this guy going forward. But wow, respect this kid for working hard and being confident yet humble.

Coachability is an underrated skill. Philly fans in shambles over Ben Simmons being uncoachable while watching Antman literally talk about how much work he puts in, 2000 shots a day, and infinite film room time.

I have to give Bill and Ryen their props, they’ve been high on Ant Edwards for a long time, way before the national media was.

This is the perfect series to show what would happen to a lot of these guys, if they played in the 90’s. Big man bringing up the basketball, gets picked up full court. Guards going to the rim, gets met by a big or two. Physicality, tenacity… thank you Minnesota. Today’s bigs (Embiid, Jokic) have been living in la la land, thinking that their doing something.

The fact they were able to beat them with towns in foul trouble in the 3rd to me indicates that this series is in Minnesotas hand

Minnesota is perfectly constructed to not just compete, but beat the Denver nuggets. I really thought Minnesota was a year or two early to be serious contenders but man, this is not a good matchup for the nuggets.

That was my first ever in person playoff game and boy was it a good one. The final score hurt as a Nuggets fan but as a fan of the game I saw some amazing basketball. Players always say the level of intensity goes way up during the playoffs and I take there word on that because my intensity as a fan was like 4x. My voice still hasn’t fully come back.

They put KAT back in at the end because he was more effective defensively against Jokic than Naz. That’s the only reason.

The Wolves D scheme is kinda like Phil Jacksons triangle offense....It takes time to learn and perfect and needs the right guys who commit to running it. If you've complained about lack of d in NBA there's a team in minnesota u might wanna become a fan of.

You are wrong about KAT going back in this game. They had a lead and Towns simply defends Jokic better than Naz. And if he would have fouled out, Naz just goes back in, easy. The lead in the 1st quarter was also with Towns on the floor, not Naz. He is clearly a plus.

When Bill got into listing the historical examples (10:00), that was his best argument. Minnesota looks like teams we’ve seen in the past that ‘shouldn’t have’ _but did._ And Ant looks like a player who will do-whatever it takes. Most people like his attitude; some don’t. But his passion is undeniable. I know he will show up in this series. He already has. My prediction: Idk what the odds are, but take the 5 game money. If Minnesota wins this series, they win it quick. Ant has to knock Jokic out before Jokic can figure Ant and Minnesota out. This is a chess boxing match between Mike Tyson (Ant) and Garry Kasparov (Jokic). This series will show us the difference between two mindsets-Ant’s modern Mamba mentality, Jokic’s Serbian workmanship. Does Ant’s reliance on emotion mean that he could get easily tilted (Draymond, Westbrook, etc.)? Are we really supposed to pick against Jokic, the guy who says the game starts the day before for him-that’s how long he spends thinking about it and analyzing it, picking it apart and putting it together? Jokic simulates games of basketball in his head like grandmasters play blindfolded chess. This is gonna be a great series!

Jokic got sped up like I've never seen before.

look up Towns defensive stats vs the joker. shockingly good. that’s why they subbed him in.

I think Bringing Towns in late in the game for Reid (who had worked hard on both ends),was simply to bring in a fresher, big-body, to guard Jokic, who had to be exhausted from playing both ends as well. MIN has enough bigs to keep Joker busy at all times. And, hes KAT... lol

The thing about Ant is that he is still learning and maturing. During the regular season Ant definitely took nights off against teams he thinks as lesser. He was also using those games to get off the ball and learn how to facilitate. By the end of the season he was putting it all together. That kept his ppg low enough to not consider him for MVP. Wilbon gave him a 2nd place vote, though.

The case for ANT and Timberwolves going on a magical run is the number 3. 3rd playoff appearance for Dwade goes to the 2006 Finals and wins finals MVP. Next, KD, Harden, Westbrook 3rd Playoff Appearance makes finals lose to Heat 4-1 in 2012 Finals. 3rd playoff apperance for Curry, Klay, Draymond Finals 2015 Win.

Did you not watch the PHX series? Kat was not on the floor to close any of those games because the D was better with NAW in. KAT plays better D on Joker than NAZ and rebounds better so he closed yesterday. Wolves staff plays the matchups.

At only 22, Ant is already unbelievably great! 🤩 🤩

Bill is so impressed with ANT.

The KAT slander, dude beside Ant, KAT was the only one giving them scoring in both halfs. His passing was really good and his defense on Joker is better than anybody rlse primarily defending him. His fouls are a problem but the way hes officiated is questionable. But they dont win the game without KAT.

Imagine if Ant would get 50% of the calls from the refs!! The entire year he been on the refs hate list!!

MJ watching and smiling from afar. He can't wait to see Antman impact the league the same way he use to back in the day. Antmans demeanor and play style is so reminiscent of Air Jordan❤

Was at a bar in Austin Texas screaming my head off watching the Wolves while everyone else was waiting for the Canelo fight lol

The reason that they want KAT in at end of games is that he's the best defensive option on Jokic. Crazy to say but watch that film and see how Gobert as the primary gets backed down too deep, Naz is a little too light as well

It’s so funny how everyone (including me)called the Gobert trade one of the worst trades of all time and said the Wolves needed to blow the roster up. Now they’re a legitimate title contender 😂

"He (Ant) was bad the first 2 months"... Pls god someone remember Ryan Saunders had no idea what he was doing. Ant didnt start for 18 games. Ed Davis, Jarret Culver and Jake layman all started over him. He was also the 4th option standing in the corner with no real development plan. Look up Ant's stats under Ryan Saunders vs Finch.

Ant is here. God tier.

How can Denver get 10 more FTs at home and lose? The officials certainly were trying to keep the Nuggets in the game. That technical on Edwards was an unbelievably brutal call.

They put towns in cuz he has been such a good defender on Jokic. They benched Kat for the last like 8 minutes of Phoenix game 3 when they put KD at the 5 and Kat said whatever it takes to win

This isn’t a Minny vs Denver segment, this is a Minny segment

Another good example is 2011 Mavs vs Lakers. Even down 3-0, analysts were asking if Kobe could lead them to a comeback and got demolished in Game 4

Great commentary.. love both of your depths and authenticity

After the game they asked jokic what they could to deal with the the Minnesota 3 bigs lineup and he literally said if there were 2 of him that could work. Even he knows they’re in trouble

Love both takes on the game. Keep up the great work. I can only imagine being able to watch game 3 court side!! Let’s go wolves

Tim Connelly should get a ton of credit. He built a championship team, left, then built another team that is tailor made to beat the team he built. 😅

Ant was visibly gassed and still went bonkers in the 2nd half. Joker was winded too. Wolves making him work on both ends. Murray is very obviously not at 100%. The Wolves are too deep though. Wolves are taking it in 5.

He was that frantic against the bucks the second game. The had Giannis as Rudy and Lopez as KAT.

How about the 2024 Timberwolves / Suns - where everyone thought the Wolves were in trouble, and then the Wolves swept them 😂😂😂

I've been a suffering Timberwolves fan since 1995, when KG came into the league. This is the best team we've ever had and ANT is only 22. The next decade of Wolves basketball should be exciting. I love your guys' excitement for ANTMAN. Keep it up!

So exciting to see how this series plays out. So good to see big plays from pretty much anyone

Lol these guys hate on KAT so much he had 2 legit fouls the rest were so soft. He was the worst whistle of all time. You play KAT because hes bigger and better then NAZ.

I think one thing thats not being mentioned here is the talent of minnesota. Ant and kat are 2 high profile no. 1 picks that have both panned out while ant is surpassing his lofty expectations. Aside from the 2 stars you still have good defensive players in gobert and mcdaniels and the always reliable mike conley who is a true pg with veteran experience. To top it off you have the 6th man of the year in reid. Denver meanwhile are mostly developed home grown not very high draft picks in jokic, murray and porter jr which is very impressive but also obvious that jokic carries the team so much because of his offensive prowess letting the other players mostly get good and easy shots.

I love how Ant can have a great Series 1 and score 40+ in ONE game vs the Nuggets and all these MJ, Kobe, and LeBron comparisons are thrown out, and people are claiming, "he's the new face of the league" etc..... Yet a player can win 3 out of 4 of the last MVP awards, be the Finals MVP and an NBA Champ, and the moment he gets compared to anyone, it gets shut down immediately and it's called ridiculous. The Denver and Jokic disrespect is mind-blowing to me, seriously.

"He broke Phoenix, he BROKE them!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Ringer finally putting up content on youtube

Kept the nugget s under 100 that s getting it done on the defensive end.

Bill is 100% right about jokic being sped up it was weird but they will adjust This is the series of the champion imo!

That Wolves sweep doesn’t seem so disrespectful anymore lol

Congratulations NBA…now you get 10+ years of Ant-Man vs Ja in annual blood feuds….we’re about to get some great basketball for a long time.

A few days ago Bill was saying Denver was the 3rd greatest team of this century to now not be sure they can win this series. I thought they were overrated, they didn't play any great teams last year. Minnestoa isn't great yet, but at least they've got potential. Hopefully this is a good test.

They went back to Towns at the end of the game because Towns can generally play a bit better situational defense compared to Naz Reid and (more importantly) Towns is really good at free throws, which were likely going to come into play if Denver wanted to start fouling.

seeing bill laugh at ryans jokes always make me laugh the vibes are immaculate

The team USA experience was invaluable for him. Got another set of plays from Kerr and coach K and play with other really good players and still excel. Just more top level experience and reps.

One of these teams are going to win the finals, and i'm betting on the one with MJ's heir.

Gm of the year Gerson Rosas. Getting all of Ant, Jaden and Naz in the same draft. Well, Naz was a undrafted signee. But still. Dude was awesome at evaluating talent. Too bad he could not keep it in his pants.

Minnesota fans have been fighting a battle against the owners of their teams, trying to get them to understand that we are not going to keep accepting 10th-best rosters led by 10th-best players who make the playoffs and give us nice, little respectable seasons, and then get bounced in round one. We finally ran Kirk Cousins out of town. And we finally bullied the Vikings to draft their first quarterback in the top ten in team history. We’re finally getting the Twins to prioritize starting pitching. We’re in a holding pattern with the Wild as we wait out the dead money from the mediocre Parise/Suter years. We never had hope to demand anything special of the Wolves. Glen Taylor’s dumpster fire ownership was truly so bad, hiring just the worst possible coaches and front office, they ironically could benefit from the parity measures in place to help bad teams. But of course, no matter how many disastrous seasons the Wolves had, the lottery kept giving the team cursed results, year after year. Conspiracy theories were numerous. With KAT and Ant, variance finally swung our way, and we got history-changing 1st overall draft picks. And the new ownership influence has brought in the coaching to utilize this talent. In the background, there are the challenges that MN teams face. The Wolves, for instance, get almost no national games. Hence almost nobody has seen Ant play until these playoffs. Of course he won’t get MVP votes. He was merely a backup in the All Star Game. The lack of exposure robs MN players of individual awards. This deters players from coming to play here. Gobert had to come here via trade. I sincerely hope that Ant has exposed and changed this situation, and the Wolves actually get featured on national TV next year. A whole bunch of people now are rushing back watch the three seasons of Ant’s career that they ignored.

Nah the way I was pressed to see this.. and then it was there lol bill.. and especially RUSS thank you for the nba coverage please continue to speak on nba coverage

McDaniels & Walker didn't score for Wolves and they still won. They were off all night.

My favorite part of playoffs is the conversation of whos next and legacy

A key to the Wolves is that they have Ant and Gobert's excellent defensive rebounding to cover up for McDaniels and KAT's poor defensive rebounding.

I want the Antman to roll, but I'll play devils advocate here. They got a great matchup with Jokic v Rudy, and they should use the threat of that to open up Murray. Juice, your 2 guys. This series is going to be a banger.

The reason KAT played late is his defense on Joker was good. Look it up

The Towns hate us ridiculous 😂. If you really listen to Ant he knows how unfair the hate is for Kat and has stuck up for him since day one. Ever since the Jimmy year people have had an unrealistic amount of hate for Kat. Nothing he does will ever be good enough. Yeah he has a lot of things to work on but so does Ant and everyone else in the league. That's Ants big bro. And it's probably not a more respectable, giving person in the league.

I think KAT was subbed in for Naz because of his defense. Over the past 2 years, Jokic worse offensive efficiency numbers have occurred when KAT is the main defender versus anybody else with similar amount or more possessions including Anthony Davis. Obviously Rudy Gobert roaming is a big reason why, but Naz Reid has been noticeably worse in the exact same defense.

Re: guessing correctly and breaking up Jokic and Gordon's in-between pass thing - Wemby did it this season. I think in that last Spurs/Nuggets game where the Spurs won and spoiled Denver's #1 seed.

Mentioning Towns's fouls without mentioning the fact that he gets the worst whistle in the league is disingenuous at best

Y’all don’t know jack about ball wolves in fo💯 comeback on Monday wolves had a bad game on Saturday and still won gg nugs

On a scale from 1-10, what is William’s panic level that the Celtics have no chance after the last two Wolve’s games?

Anthony edwards will be the best player on team usa and more people will realize whats going on

Booker had 49 and kd 33 and the suns still lost by 7...ant ain't scarred of jokic

Connelly built this team to beat Denver after he was hired in Minnesota. He pulled the deals to get Rudy, Mike Conley, and Alexander Walker. He knew what changes needed to be made defensively. This team is winning because of the defensive moves and Ants ascension!! If you really watch it is so difficult for teams to get to 105 points a game now against us. Everyone bought in on the defensive changes. Kat, Jaden, Ant, Walker, and Rudy. If the Wolves hit 38 percent of threes, they will beat anyone.

"i feel like i'm gonna get hit by lightning" 😂

Bill simmons said it would be a fireable offense if the wolves took ANT over Wiseman in the draft, don’t trust his takes fellas

Bill and Ryen great breakdown. Ant Man is the real deal. Let’s see iit again!

Towns is really a PF in my eyes . It take two players him and Gobert size to gaurd a jokic Shaq tim duncan

Anyone gaurding joker gets a bad whistle. KATs a good player he played his roll.

I disagree on no other reason for putting towns back in. Wolves grew a 7-9 point lead at that point and needed defense and while Naz has been okay against Jokic, Towns is a whole lot better defensively than him

Ant is great but it might just be variance/small sample size. Ant 2024 regular season shooting splits: 46.1/35.7/83.6. Ant 2024 playoffs shooting splits (so far): 53.2/43.6/86.5.

I have Wolves/Celtics too. And MN to win it all. But I'm also from Minnesota and have been seeing this coming. I think OKC is a tougher matchup

These live streams are great, btw

People keep referring to the decision to put KAT back as one based solely on his defense on Jokic. Uhhhh he's a 2-time all-nba player, 5x all-star? One of the most efficinet scorers of his generation? Had 20 on 13 shots in the game? Simmons and Rusillio are half-buffoons who decide that they don't like guys because of their flaws and take every opportunity to gleefully shit on them. It's pathetic. Their style crosses the line often from analysis into petty berating and belittling.

The best part of Ant is talking to Kat about fouling...

I havent watched the vid yet, does bill create a draft list?

I've been an NBA fan my entire life. I may or may not be completely stupid when it comes to the sport still, as evidenced by Minnesota this year. They have legitimately blown me away. All the shit with Gobert, Towns being Towns, and Ant being really young still just had me not believing in them at all before the season. Then they started off really well, and I figured they would either get bounced in round 1 or fade away before the playoffs. Instead, it looks like they've gotten better! Edwards is just amazing. Everybody has already said everything they love about him, so it's pointless to go over again. His fearlessness is my favorite aspect of his game though. He doesn't seem to care what the repercussions might be, he's going for it. Fun team to watch for sure. They've become my favorite squad to watch when the Pacers aren't playing. Nothing against the Nuggets, they are amazing to watch also and I wouldn't mind seeing them repeat. But it would be awesome to see Minnesota advance further than they have since KG was terrorizing power forwards 20 years ago. I actually remember watching that series against LA as a like, 14 year old. Good times.

I’ve honestly never realized why teams just let Joker run up the floor as point

I'm so sick and tired of the Karl-Anthony Towns slander. He's been the Timberwolves' 2nd or 3rd (Gobert) best player these playoffs and has sacrificed so much and is staying so fucking positive when other "stars" would try to prove they are the guy and not Ant and claim "You can't win without me" before fucking off to Miami via Philadelphia. Not gonna take that from Mr. and Ms. "Picking Ant over Wiseman because you have Towns could be a fireable offence". Fuck that. KAT is not gonna complain about not getting enough credit, cause he's such a great guy, but I'm gonna stand up for my guy who has done nothing but try his best to make the Timberwolves a winner. Which they are now going to be, with KAT as the 2nd/3rd best player.

The Rudy gobert hate has to stop!!! Him making the finals would look great on his resume

“It’s so disrespectful” yet we’re here Ryan the hack

Remember when bill said the Rudy trade was the worst in NBA history. Aged well Bill.

Denver might apply Jordan rule on Ant maybe double him more in 2nd game.

Mcdanielas disappeared on offense along with Naw

This reminds me of bostons 2022 run only this time I really think Boston is playing the role of golden state in veterans who are gonna get it done but a bright future for Minnesota

this series reminds me of bos / mil in '22. giannis was coming off a ring but boston had tools to dampen his efficiency. same is true w jok n the wolves but i think okc has a a shot to beat min or den

The end of game KAT-Naz situation has another layer to it. Yes, Naz was playing fantastic, but up to that point KAT was defending Jokic better. In a position where they needed defense, that’s another aspect that needs to be talked about. That being said, we all know KAT’s foul issues, he needs to be better.

Bill, you are not slick. "IF he beats Denver, He leaves Tatum in the dust", firstly, excellent job bringing up Tatum here, You havent mentioned his name in 14 in game pod minutes, was getting worried. Ant left TATUM?!?!?!??? In the dust last year my boy.

So far the Timberwolves and Knicks are negating my theorem that teams can’t overcome bad ownership, but hey, it’s early. Anyway, I’m a Warriors fan, but I love watching both these teams play. Denver as well.

No wonder the Suns get swept, Twolves defense is feisty and Denver have to work so much just to get good looks, interesting on how Denver will adjust