Even the uber-confident and brash Anthony Edwards can’t help but concede to Nikola Jokic’s greatness.
After watching the Nuggets star pick apart his team’s defense, specifically Rudy Gobert, with a 40-point masterpiece on Tuesday, Edwards sounded like a man without answers.
“I just laugh,” Edwards told reporters, via Ben Golliver of The Washington Post. “That’s all I can do. I can’t be mad, because he’s good, man. I think I said that after both Game 1 and Game 2. He’s the MVP and the best player in the NBA. He showed it [in] the last three games. He was special tonight. I gotta give him his flowers. I mean, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do [laughs]. He was that guy tonight.”
To Edwards’ point, the Timberwolves have had zero answers for the three-time MVP over the last two games. When they’ve tried to blitz him, the Serb would pass the rock to a teammate, get it back and make a play out of a give-and-go action. When they’ve collapsed four defenders (!) on him, Jokic would miraculously find a cutting Aaron Gordon for a dunk. And when they’ve asked the four-time DPOY Rudy Gobert to guard him one-on-one, Jokic would treat himself to a helping of Barbeque Chicken.
Although Edwards gave Jokic his flowers, the blossoming star reinforced that his team wasn’t willing to throw in the towel and would come out fighting in Thursday’s Game 6.
Does he truly believe that, though?
We empathize, Mr. Edwards. It’s probably how teams felt running into Michael Jordan in the 1990s, Shaquille O’Neal in the early 2000s or LeBron James in the 2010s.
Sometimes, all you can do is marvel at greatness.
