Anthony Edwards scored 41 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Houston Rockets 127–114 on Thursday night. Edwards shot 11-of-25 from the field despite some physical defense from Dillon Brooks that may have crossed the line in Edwards's opinion.
About midway through the second quarter Brooks caught Edwards in the face and the Wolves' star went down. Brooks then stood over Edwards. When play continued the two exchanged words and got tangled up as they ran up the court. Play was stopped, but no fouls were called.
Then Brooks got caught flopping.
Since Edwards was able to keep his composure he was able to stay on the court and dominate as the Wolves pulled away in the final minutes, which allowed Edwards to literally have the last laugh and taunt Brooks as time expired.
In an interview immediately following the game saying that the back-and-forth with Brooks put "fuel on the fire," which must have felt good compared to how the Timberwolves reacted to physical play earlier this season.
“We got tested," said Edwards. "It was a fist fight tonight. We got into it a couple times. And they gotta be ready. If you want to get into it you gotta be ready to play ball."
In the locker room after the game he was able to expand on his thoughts about Brooks's behavior.
Here's Anthony Edwards on getting into it with Dillon Brooks and Brooks poking at him.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) February 7, 2025
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
"Everybody know how Dillon Brooks is, man. He play dirty," said Edwards. "He's a competitor. I love the competing part, but all the slick little dirty s---. Like, he hit me in the face and then I fell. And then he like, how much crying you gonna do? I'm like bruh, you hit me in my m---------- face. What you want me to do? So, you know, I just don't like that part. Don't do something then act like you didn't do it. You know what I'm saying? I love all the competitiveness. We can compete all day. We can talk s--- all day, but when you get to doing that it's more than basketball at that point."
The Rockets are currently the fourth seed in the Western Conference while the Timberwolves are sixth. They may end up meeting in the postseason, but before then they do have one more regular season game against each other remaining two weeks from now.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Anthony Edwards Scored 41 and Told Everyone About Dillon Brooks’s Dirty Play .
