A lot is on the line for both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves in Tuesday’s all-important NBA Play-In Game. As such, it comes as no surprise that emotions were running high early in the contest. So much so, that Rui Hachimura and Anthony Edwards got involved in a bit of a scuffle after a heated play.
Edwards came up with a massive block on Hachimura that is worthy of being considered as one of the best defensive plays this season. The Timberwolves star was clearly pleased with his block too, and he decided to let his Lakers counterpart know:
ANTHONY EDWARDS MEETS HACHIMURA AT THE SUMMIT 😱
Some words were exchanged between Edwards and Hachimura after the play as well 👀pic.twitter.com/TKUn759bBO
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 12, 2023
Rui Hachimura missed a shot at the rim and fell to the floor to end the 1st Q. Hachimura's legs were up in the air with his back to the hardwood and MIN's Anthony Edwards pushed them out of the way, causing LAL's Troy Brown Jr. to briefly intervene before cooler heads prevailed.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 12, 2023
Anthony Edwards just stood over Rui Hachimura and said something to him after blocking his dunk attempt. Multiple Lakers and Wolves players immediately stepped in before anything escalated. The refs are currently reviewing the sequence.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) April 12, 2023
First off, WHAT A BLOCK. Edwards absolutely went for it, and he could have easily been on the wrong end of a poster here. Instead, he was able to meet Hachimura at the summit, and it resulted in an epic block from the Timberwolves star.
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As the above reports indicate, Rui was not pleased with Edwards’ antics. He decided to let him know as well, and unsurprisingly, a number of other players from both the Lakers and the Wolves got involved. In the end, though, cooler heads prevailed, and the situation was de-escalated before it even came close to getting out of hand.
Both teams know what’s a stake here. The winner proceeds to the playoffs to set up a first-round series against Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. The loser, however, will need to face off against the winner of the Oklahoma City Thunder-New Orleans Pelicans Play-In matchup on Wednesday night.