Anthony Edwards believes that if Karl-Anthony Towns can stay out of foul trouble, the Minnesota Timberwolves will beat the Denver Nuggets. Following the Timberwolves’ 115-70 win in Game 6, Edwards was asked about Towns playing some great defense on Nikola Jokic and he spoke about the importance of him being on the court.
“I think the main thing today was his ass stayed out of foul trouble like I told him in the Phoenix series,” Edwards said. “That was all that was. I cussed him out every chance I get, ‘Bro, stop f***ing fouling.’ I think you guys see it. If KAT don’t foul, we pretty much can win the game, every time.
“Tonight I mean, he had 3 fouls, but he only had 3, he didn’t have 5,” Edwards continued. “I told him today, we thankful that you didn’t foul, because if you foul, we lose. Cause you the best matchup we got for Jokic, you do the best job on him… You do the best job standing up to his first dribble and he did that tonight.”
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It might sound odd to some that Edwards stated Towns was the Timberwolves’ best matchup against Jokic, with 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert being on their team. It is true, though.
As per the NBA, Jokic has shot 40.9% from the field in this series when guarded by Towns. Against Gobert, meanwhile, the Serb has shot 51.4% from the field and it gets up to 56.5% when it’s Naz Reid guarding him.
Towns is their best bet against Jokic and the Timberwolves need him to stay out of foul trouble. As for Edwards saying they would pretty much win every time against the Nuggets if Towns doesn’t rack up fouls, that is a bit of a stretch.
KAT, who is averaging 17.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in this series, wasn’t in foul trouble in Game 3 or 4 and they still lost. In Game 5, the 28-year-old picked up three fouls midway through the second quarter and had to come out, but ended up playing almost the entire second half. Despite that, the Timberwolves lost again.
So, Towns staying out of foul trouble certainly wouldn’t lead to victory all the time, but it does help the Timberwolves’ chances a fair bit. They’d be hoping that the star big man doesn’t rack them up in Game 7, either.
Can The Timberwolves Stun The Nuggets In Game 7?
Many in the basketball world proclaimed that this series was over when the Timberwolves won the first two games in Denver. The Nuggets then won the next three to be in the driver’s seat, only for the Timberwolves to fire back in Game 6 to tie things up at 3-3.
We now have a Game 7 on our hands and it’s always hard to predict which way these go. I think the Nuggets will win a close hard-fought game, which, funnily enough, has not happened in this series. Four of the six have been blowouts but I don’t think this one will be.
Being at home is a big advantage I feel for the Nuggets. Yes, the Timberwolves have won two games in Denver in the series, but Game 7 is a completely different animal thanks to the pressure that comes with it.
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