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Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the defending champion Denver Nuggets 98-90 during Sunday's Game 7 second-round playoff matchup. Afterward, Towns began reflecting on his nine-year career journey to reach his first conference finals. However, his co-star Anthony Edwards humorously interjected.
Towns finished with a team-high 23 points and 12 rebounds on 57.1% shooting as Minnesota stormed back from a 20-point third-quarter deficit. With their Game 7 victory, the Timberwolves secured their first Western Conference finals berth since 2004.
Prior to this season, Minnesota hadn't won a single series since its 2004 playoff run, led by franchise legend Kevin Garnett. In between, the Timberwolves missed the postseason for 13 consecutive years from 2005 to 2017 before ending their drought in 2018.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who was drafted No. 1 by Minnesota in the 2015 NBA draft, experienced the organization's struggles firsthand. The four-time All-Star missed the playoffs in five of his first six seasons, not winning his first postseason series until this season, Year 9 of his career.
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During Sunday's postgame interview, Towns recounted his up-and-down nine-year Minnesota tenure.
"For me, being here nine years, I've seen everything and seen it all," Towns said.
However, Edwards, the Timberwolves' 2020 No. 1 draft pick, seemingly wasn't interested in hearing about the franchise's past shortcomings. The star wing comically cut Towns off to stress the importance of focusing on the present.
"Man, f**k them nine years," Edwards said. "This year."
"Man, f**k 'em, right?" Towns added. "But to be here this year with these guys, this team, it's just super special."
Anthony Edwards is only in his fourth season but has quickly reversed Minnesota's fortunes, guiding the organization to the playoffs three straight years. The 22-year-old has established himself as one of the league's premier young stars and has a chance to lead the Timberwolves to their first NBA Finals appearance.
They will take on the Dallas Mavericks in the West finals, with Game 1 scheduled for Wednesday in Minnesota.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards quip about young teams needing to lose in playoffs to learn how to win
During their Game 7 postgame press conference, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards were questioned about young teams', like Minnesota's, tendency to lose big postseason series. The two responded comically, citing the Timberwolves' past struggles.
In particular, the reporter asked how Minnesota avoided coming up short in its core's first second-round playoff series together against a more experienced Denver team. However, Towns and Edwards quickly pointed out that the Timberwolves already learned their lesson during their first-round exits the previous two postseasons.
"We lost last year," Towns said. "It's the playoffs. We lost last year."
"We lost the last two years," Edwards added.
Towns also quipped about the franchise's historic playoff shortcomings.
"G*d d*mn. How much more do we gotta lose? We've been losing for 20 years," Towns said.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards will look to help Minnesota continue to build its winning culture and defy expectations during Wednesday's Game 1 showdown against Dallas.
