Will defense decide Minnesota vs. OKC? + Who has been the MVP of the playoffs? | NBA Today

Will defense decide Minnesota vs. OKC? + Who has been the MVP of the playoffs? | NBA Today

Anthony Edwards just 35 points away from passing KG as the franchise leader in playoff scoring and he’s just 23 years old. The West Finals, it starts tomorrow on ESPN and he spoke at yesterday’s practice. And what do you what do you like most about playing for Finch? Um the freedom the freedom he gives us. Um long as you play defense, it lets you do anything offensively. So yeah, pretty much. Does he actually say it in those words? Nah, but I I know what he’d be thinking. Like long as we guard at a high level cuz that’s what we hang our hats on defense, the defensive end. So long as we get stops, it don’t really matter what shots we get because we know we’re going to get stops down there. So we’ll be all right. All right, Perk Ant says that defense is going to carry this team. What do you think is going to be the factor that decides the Western Finals? I know they haven’t started, but let’s make some predictions here. Oh, look, defense is a small No, no, no, no, no, Mr. Elvis. We got SG P Right. We’ll tell Jana. He said it’s gonna not just be a small perk. I’m gonna pick up where Perk left off because I think we’re on the same time. We’re brother and sister here. Like if you think about it, yes, defense is important, but you are also on the other end going up against the best defense in the NBA. You need to put the ball in the basket and Ant will need help. Over the course of the season, we’ve seen him grow on the fly dealing with double teams, triple teams. He will need a certified second option who has emerged to be Julius Randall. Celebrate what Julius Randall has done as of late for the T-Wolves. He’s not only been a scorer, he’s also been a facilitator. And this is the first time in a playoff series we’ve seen two T-Wolves and Julius and Ant average 25 in a series. So, they’re coming in confident offensively. They’ll have to be able to knock down some shots along Ant with playing defense as well. And remember, we didn’t get to see Julius Randall in that Knicks series against the Pacers last year. So, he wants to be out there and show what he has in the playoffs because this is the best we’ve ever seen him play in the postseason. You’re picking up where Perk left off. I’m picking up after Perk because I actually have some shoes I have to bring with us to Oklahoma City that he left here at the studio at Chennai. But I will say the one point that I I I mean, you know, it’s Perks. The one point that I wanted to make on this, I think it’s equally for the Timberwolves the self-inflicted wounds here. You cannot have 20 turnovers against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ask the Denver Nuggets. They will make you pay. But before we move on, Chenet, there’s a matchup we have to feature in this series. This is my favorite subplot of the series. Jay Gildis Alexander, Nquille Alexander Walker, they’re cousins. Check this photo out. They’re extremely close. They have been their entire lives. This is just precious. Look at these adorable babies. But now, fast forward. This is what Shay said about facing off against his cousin in the West Finals. Yeah, it’ll be very fun. It’s like uh it’s hard to expl even even explain. Like if you know how close we are, he’s literally like my my second brother. He um he’s been through every stage of life with me and picking up a basketball to going to prep school to making the NBA. Like we’ve gone through every situation together. For for both of us to be where we are is is special. Um to compete against each other is even more special. Um, but I am trying to take his his head off. Before we move to the conference finals though, friends, let’s check out some top of the top brought to you by PayPal. We have the best plays of the second round. We’re going to start with some top throwdowns here, Chenet. It’s the Nuggets and the Thunder. Aaron Gordon, two-handed. I think he like shoveled it in there. So many great plays from AG. I know we’re going to be talking about the MVPs of the postseason so far. He had a case before the the Nuggets went down. Oh, look out. Donovan Mitchell does it all over Spicy PE. Bring it all the way back. Woo. And then Brian Winhorse, you know, we had to get this one in from Anthony Edwards. That should be number one. With all due respect, everybody else. We’re not ranking these. We’re just We’re just loving them all. Well, I just Thank you. All right, we’ll rank these defenses then. Brian, Knicks versus Celtics, game one. Look at Male Bridges here. This sealed the game. And many thought this was a one-off. Oh, no. No. He should be on here a couple of times. I think he will be defensive MVP. Nuggets and the Thunder. Payton Watson. Chenet. That’s a sevenfooter. You’re blocking. That was a volleyball block. Two hands. A coach’s dream of verticality. You love it. And then we have the Celtics and Knicks again. McBride with the chase down. Blocks Derrick White’s layup. The little guys win. All right, Brian. Let’s go to top acrobatics here. We’re going back to the Cavaliers and the Pacers. is game three. Donovan Mitchell shifty and one. Well, you thought the Cows were doing great in this series. Just look at these highlights. There were certainly some highlights. We’re trying to give Cavaliers fans a little bit of a glass half full approach here. How about the Thunder and the Nuggets? Again, we have another Nuggets highlights, too. Jamal Murray, a little circus shot there. Crazy. Pretty English backwards. Crazy off the glass. Gorgeous. And then we have the Cavaliers and Pacers. Here we go. Here’s some Pacers for you. Obie topping circus layup under the basket. You compared this to Dr. J Malikica. Yeah, a little homage. All right, let’s go to top clutch time here. Nuggets and the Thunder. This is game five. Chenet Nicol, this was crazy. Oh my god, this was crazy. Not fair. And you thought this, you know, might be might be it. You’re wet. And then game one, Russell Westbrook making the right pass. Aaron Gordon silencer. What a postseason from Aaron Gordon, Brian. [Music] Yeah, it was a really unfortunate the way it ended the way it did. Tyresese Hallebertton over that. Dirty. My goodness. Now we see how that series went. Yeah, now we see how it went. Well, Tyrese, he made his mark this postseason, his clutch shots, but he also continues to lead the Pacers offense with his passing, too. The leading the remaining players in the assists, the MVP favorite, SGA, leads the final four teams in scoring. And Carl Anthony Towns has done strong work on the boards here for the Knicks when you look at the 2025 playoff leaders. But Chennet, the MVP of the playoffs so far has been who in your mind? Big Body Brunson, we got iconic moments from both rounds. The way he just snatched that ball between the legs in Detroit and then also clawing back as the clutch player of the year. It’s very rare that you get a clutch player of the year and you see them deliver in real time. The most clutch time points by himself. 43 points. It’s Brunson’s world right now in the city that I’m in. That’s New York City. New York or nowhere. Brian. Yeah. Um, you know, Brad Stevens just talked a little bit ago about how games one and two just absolutely gutted them. And that was all about number 11. And that doesn’t even include what he did in that Piston series where he had that crazy crossover to deliver them that series in game five. So look, there’s a lot of good candidates. Yeah, Jaylen Brunson right now stands at the top, but you know, we are a long way from being done. It it may not be the most popular, but I do think Chenet, as you would say, Julius Randall has been powerful. He has been a difference maker for this Timberwolves team. Honorable mention, and we will see him in person tomorrow because we are all hitting the road to Oklahoma City for the West Finals. We’ll see you from Oklahoma. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

NBA Today’s Malika Andrews and Chiney Ogwumike react to Anthony Edwards saying defense will be the deciding factor in the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. The panel also looks back to the best plays at the best plays from Round 2 and make their picks for the MVP of the playoffs so far.

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