On the second night of a back-to-back, Anthony Edwards erupted for 41 points to secure a 127-114 win against the Houston Rockets at home. However, the Rockets might have shot themselves in the foot by assigning Edwards to Dillon Brooks.
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“Everybody know how Dillon Brooks is, man. He play dirty… Like he hit me in the face and then I fell and then he, he like ‘How much crying you gon’ do?’ I’m like, ‘Bruh, you hit me in my motherf***ing face, what you want me to do?’‘ Ant-Man said during a post-game locker room interview.
The play Edwards is referring to took place when the Wolves were down by three in the first half. With just under six minutes remaining in the second quarter, Ant dribbled the ball into the corner before Brooks’ extended arm hit him in the face, leading to a foul call against the Houston Rockets.
Even after the play ended with a missed three, Edwards and Brooks remained in the corner. The latter was hand-checking the three-time All-Star and the two got tangled up as they made their way up the court. Brooks picked up another foul on that play and a few seconds later, he added to it in typical fashion.
Seeing how Brooks was overplaying Edwards, Chris Finch changed up the assignments and tasked Terrence Shannon Jr. with defending the Canadian. However, as Brooks made his way to the top of the key, he flopped onto the floor and picked up his third foul in 20 seconds.
“I just don’t like that part. Don’t do something and then act like you didn’t do it, you know what I’m saying? But I love all the competitiveness. We can compete all day, we can talk s**t all day,” Ant added.
As a proven competitor himself though, Edwards shared how Brooks’ dirty plays spurred his motor. “Once me and Dillon Brooks got into it, the fatigue went out the way,” he said on the second night of a back-to-back.
Here's Anthony Edwards on getting into it with Dillon Brooks and Brooks poking at him.
Later in the interview, Ant also said: "Once me and Dillon Brooks got into it, the fatigue went out the way." pic.twitter.com/8ekIrf0I10
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) February 7, 2025
It wasn’t just Edwards and Brooks involved in some heated plays at Target Center last night. There was a sense of brewing rivalry between the Western Conference teams throughout the game, which almost led to an altercation between Naz Reid and Jock Landale in the fourth quarter.
Landale grabbed the offensive rebound after Jaden McDaniels blocked Cam Whitmore’s shot. However, he would quickly have the ball taken from him by Reid. Frustrated, Jack shoved Naz in the back, forcing the officials to intervene once again and deliver a technical foul to the Rockets’ backup big.
Rudy Gobert picked up a technical too, for shoving Landale in retaliation. However, the Timberwolves would have the last laugh as a reinvigorated Edwards scored 16 of his 41 points in the final quarter to bury the Rockets.
With the game separated by just 4 points in the final four minutes, Ant-Man delivered two clutch three-pointers to pull away from the opposition. Notably, the game also marked his 14th 40-point outing, helping him overtake Karl-Anthony Towns as the Wolves’ franchise leader in 40-point games.