Ant chose to give San Antonio their flowers before the buzzer even sounded, admitting post-game: ‘They’re just the better team.’ Was this a legendary show of sportsmanship or did Wolves quit too early? Yankee Scores reports…

In a rare show of sportsmanship, Anthony Edwards shook hands with the members of the San Antonio team sitting on their bench at the eight-minute mark of their 139-109 defeat at the hands of the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals game on Friday.

The Walk of Respect

According to Edwards, the reason behind his actions was his desire to recognize the better team while he was still playing.

“I mean, I just tip my hat to them,” he said. “They’re just the better team. I mean at that point, you ain’t going back in, so you’re just trying to give them their respect.”

The Reality of the Rout

Edwards’ action seemed strange at that point, but it was apparent that the Timberwolves did not have much left to hold onto during their playoff eliminations game on Friday night.

The win for the Spurs made Wolves’ series of playoff eliminations stretch to three games, with all three being decided by 20 points or more.

The Timberwolves lost to the Dallas Mavericks 124-103 in 2024 in their Game 5 of the Western Conference playoffs. In the last season, they were eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the champions, Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-94 in Game 5 of the Western Conference playoffs.

Edwards’ Return couldn’t Save Wolves

The Timberwolves had difficulty beating the Spurs. Edwards returned from his knee injury that he suffered in the first round as he prepared for the Western Conference semifinals.

“I’ve got nothing but great things to say about Ant’s performance in this series because he wasn’t supposed to even be there until the middle of the series,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.

Dosunmu was one of the unexpected stars in the playoffs, but his leg injury meant that he missed the first game of the series. Edwards said that DiVincenzo’s season-ending Achilles injury in the Denver Nuggets series added to Minnesota’s problems against the Spurs.

“He spreads the floor like no other,” Edwards said. “In a series like this where they’re just double-teaming, I would love to have Donte in my slot and just throwing it to him the entire time and shoot 20 3s, but he got hurt last series, so we tried to figure it out.”

Savage Spurs

In Game 6, the San Antonio Spurs crushed the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 30-point margin.

Even though Wembanyama had an average night compared to his usual performance, Stephon Castle scored 32 points for the Spurs and led to a deadly run in the second quarter when the Spurs outscored the Timberwolves 20-0.

What’s Next for Wolves

Despite their defeat, the Timberwolves have a lot of questions to answer in the coming days.

First, Anthony Edwards, the team’s star, commented on the organization’s failures in the playoffs. When asked about the team’s inability to reach the NBA Finals, the Timberwolves star was not willing to share any comments on the issue.

However, he mentioned that he is satisfied with the roster as he does not feel the need to acquire a new star player. Edwards also admitted that the team failed to build championship-level routines before entering the playoffs.