Chris Finch had figured it out. Not long ago, his Minnesota Timberwolves took down the Phoenix Suns 124-109. His secret? Familiarity. They had battled Phoenix and Denver so many times that he knew exactly where to press and what buttons to push. And he wasn’t bluffing. On Tuesday, Anthony Edwards & Co. went head-to-head with Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets. And oh, what a showdown it was. Tension, drama, pure chaos—an absolute thriller from start to finish!

A double OT… I repeat, a double OT! Ball Arena was nothing but a warzone where their home boy, the Joker, scored his third 60-point triple-double. 61 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. That Serbian ‘horse-loving’ giant was onto the Wolves’ throats. But Anthony Edwards? Equally feisty, as always. Chipping in 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists, Antman too was on the Nuggets’ back. At one point, it really looked like Denver could win the game until they couldn’t and lost the game 139-140 in the second OT.

Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards seems to be in awe of Nikola Jokic’s game night. I mean, let’s be serious, who isn’t? So, Edwards said that Tuesday might’ve been the best game of his life. “Nikola Jokic, bro. Oh my God, he might be the best basketball player I’ve ever seen, like, close up, besides myself to myself. Bro, he’s incredible, bro,” the 23-year-old told the media in the locker room. However, the 29-year-old superstar’s performance has added to Ant’s helplessness. How? The MVP race just got heated. More. Nikola has always been a direct threat to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s first place, but that’s not where the Joker is going to stop.

“The MVP race is tough now. I don’t know, better yet. 60, that was crazy,” Anthony Edwards expressed. “We just hope he missed. It was at one point where we were just like, bro, we hope we don’t miss, bro. Just because trapping them wasn’t trapped, like he’s just hats off to him, man.” Simply put, Jokic was an absolute terror on the court, and maybe Ant and Co. thought he’d be impossible to stop.

But had it not been for that one Russell Westbrook at the last 17.7 seconds of the game, the scenario could’ve been different. Meanwhile, Timberwolves‘ Chris Finch cleared his stance on the situation that turned the game in his team’s favor.

Wolves’ head coach clarifies the Russell Westbrook situation amidst Anthony Edwards’s Jokic worship

Russell Westbrook had a solid night: 12 points, seven assists, six rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. But oh, those final moments stung. With the game on the line, he missed a crucial layup that could have saved Denver. Then, in a brutal twist, he fouled on the final possession, handing the Timberwolves the win at the free-throw line. Just like that, a strong performance turned into a tough pill to swallow.

Meanwhile, Chris Finch appeared before the media in the postgame press conference and clarified what happened on the court. He said: “Just a hell of a game by everybody, man. Everybody came in… Denver kept trying to junk up the game with defense and matchups and stuff, and we just had to keep figuring it out. Got down a bit and came back. You know, we got stops when we needed to, made enough big plays, and, you know, guys really trusted each other out there.”

Chris Finch’s team fought through Denver‘s challenges, made big plays, and never backed down.  Then, Anthony Edwards’s coach added: “Even to the last play, where Mike runs down Westbrook, and you know, if he doesn’t do that, then there’s no mislayup.” Finch saw it all unfold. The game was hanging by a thread, every second dripping with tension. And then came the moment—Mike Conley chasing down Russell Westbrook. A split-second decision, a burst of effort. If Conley didn’t make that run, Westbrook would’ve finished the layup. No miss. No heartbreak. Just a different ending. But he did. And that changed everything.

In the end, it all came down to one moment. One chase, one miss, one foul. Jokic was otherworldly, and Anthony Edwards was fearless, but Westbrook’s late-game slip cost Denver everything. The MVP race just got messier, the Wolves proved their grit, and Finch’s master plan held strong. What a night. What a game.