Magic Johnson bullish about Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns NBA Finals prediction

The NBA’s conference finals will kick off on Tuesday as the OKC Thunder faces the Minnesota Timberwolves before the Indiana Pacers take on the New York Knicks on Wednesday. With the two series set to start in the coming days, NBA legend Magic Johnson expressed his predictions on who will compete in this year’s finals.

On X, Johnson posted that he thinks the Timberwolves and the Knicks will come out of their conference finals series, giving the league an NBA Finals matchup between former teammates Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns.

“I have the New Knicks beating the Indiana Pacers and the Minnesota Timberwolves beating the Oklahoma City Thunder to advance to the NBA Finals!” Johnson tweeted on Tuesday.

Towns and Edwards were teammates last year when the Timberwolves played in the 2024 Western Conference finals against the then-Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks. The Timberwolves, however, lost the series in five games.

In the offseason, the Timberwolves traded Towns to New York for Julius Randle due to financial complications in what is now considered a "win-win" trade for both teams.

This year, the Timberwolves, whose squad finished as the sixth seed in the regular season, took down the third-seed LA Lakers in the first round, before taking out the Golden State Warriors in the second round, who missed Steph Curry for most of the series.

Meanwhile, the Knicks are coming off an impressive showing in the second round, dethroning the Boston Celtics in six games. New York defeated the Detroit Pistons in the first round.

The Timberwolves have never been in the NBA Finals, while the Knicks last reached the promised land in 1999. New York last won an NBA title in 1973.

Magic Johnson compliments Anthony Edwards and former Lakers Julius Randle in Minnesota’s playoff run

After the Minnesota Timberwolves' five-game series win against the Golden State Warriors, Magic Johnson, a former LA Lakers star and team president, praised Anthony Edwards and former Lakers forward Julius Randle.

According to Johnson, Randle has never played this well in his career, giving Edwards a solid second star for the Timberwolves.

“Congratulations to the Minnesota Timberwolves who picked the best time to play their best basketball; taking down the Lakers then the Warriors. Anthony Edwards dominated both the Lakers and Warriors with a lot of help from Julius Randle who is playing the best that I’ve ever seen him play,” Johnson wrote on Friday.

Randle, Edwards and the Timberwolves will have their hands full against the top-seeded OKC Thunder, whose squad is coming off a grueling seven-game series against 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

Minnesota and OKC split their regular season series 2-2.