Do the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards and Nuggets’ Jamal Murray have a problem with each other?

If it wasn’t already clear, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards is not short on confidence. Indeed, that was on full display both during and after Sunday night’s game which his team lost to the defending champions.

Anthony Edwards addresses his spat with Jamal Murray

On Sunday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves lost 115-107 in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series with the Denver Nuggets, bringing the current tally to 2 games a piece. Having led the defending champions 2-0 at one point, you can probably imagine that it was not a result that was well received. That was quite evident in fact when the players left the court, with Anthony Edwards appearing to have a verbal exchange with Nuggets star Jamal Murray. While it wasn’t immediately clear what was said, it definitely wasn’t pleasantries.

That’s where Edwards himself cleared the air. Speaking during his postGame press conference, the 22-year-old opened up about the situation. “I just told his ass that’s what we -- we loved that, keep talking that, that’s what we like,” Edwards said. “Well I love it. He didn’t say nothing back, but I’m pretty sure he heard me. They heard me, and we live for that.” Interestingly, Murray himself wasn’t asked about the back and forth with Edwards but he did acknowledge how hard it is to deal with Edwards on court. “Anthony [Edwards] scored a lot at the end, we just didn’t want to overcommit or open up the 3-point line, but there’s still areas where we can be a lot better,” Murray said. “He’s downhill, he’s tough to guard, he’s explosive. He’s always in attack mode, so I think we can do a better job of giving him some attention.”

The Timberwolves & Nuggets are about to go at it

Truthfully, as much as the Nuggets are now level with the Timberwolves, Murray is right i.e., they will need to do better when it comes to Edwards who finished with 44 points, five assists, and five rebounds on 16 of 25 from the field. It was a tough night for Edwards and Co. who were down by as much as 18 points at one point. Of course, that was largely due to the performance of the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic, who ended the night with 35 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, while Aaron Gordon chipped in with 27 points, seven rebounds, and six assists of his own.

At this point, it will be interesting to see how things go from here in this series. With the road team winning every game, it’s been anything but predictable, but given the trash talk that’s been flying around, one has to imagine it’s about to get a whole lot more intense. Even more so when you consider the momentum that the Nuggets will be taking into Game 5 following their apparent resurgence. Though, it’s worth noting that Edwards himself doesn’t believe that will be a factor.

“I don’t think they got any momentum,” Edwards said. “We won two Games. They won two Games. At this point, it’s whoever wins two Games. I don’t know how people look at it, but I look at it like I’m happy. I’m ready. It’s comPeting at the highest level. I’m smiling about it because I’m happy. I’m ready to go play. If we played tomorrow, I’d be ready. It’s going to be fun.”