Anthony Edwards Hypes Nikola Jokic's Defensive IQ, 'That Motherf--ker Cheating'

Nikola Jokić's defense baffled Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert during the Minnesota Timberwolves' 140-139 double-overtime win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

Edwards told reporters after the game that Jokić knew exactly what play the Timberwolves were about to run just from seeing how Edwards and Gobert lined up following a fourth-quarter timeout, per ESPN's Chris Herring and Tim MacMahon.

"Me and Rudy looked at each other and said, 'How the f--k do he know?'" Edwards said, per Herring and MacMahon. "That motherf--ker cheating, bruh."

Four-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Gobert agreed and joked: "Yeah. We got to launch an investigation."

Multiple people who have played with or coached Jokić told ESPN the star has an uncanny ability to remember opponents' sets.

Nuggets assistant coach Popeye Jones told Herring and MacMahon that Jokić will remember if a team attempts the same play against his team twice, even if it happens the next year.

Denver wing Christian Braun meanwhile told Herring and MacMahon that Jokić will physically move his teammates into place to prepare for a play he knows is coming.

"He's going to look at you and tell you, 'Hey, this is what's coming; this was their call,'" Braun told Herring and MacMahon. "You'll see him looking at the other coach to hear their call. He knows what's coming and knows the best way to guard it."

Jokić and the Nuggets lost all four games against the Timberwolves this season after suffering a three-point loss in November, then conceding blowout defeats in January and March prior to this week's double-overtime loss.

Those matchups still apparently allowed Jokić to figure out some of Minnesota's plays.

Jokić set an NBA record for the highest-scoring triple-double in league history with 61 points in the Nuggets' loss. He played more than 52 minutes and never left the court after starting the second half.

After winning three of the last four league MVP awards, Jokić is in contention for a fourth this spring. He could bolster his candidacy by helping the Nuggets fend off the Los Angeles Lakers and hold onto the No. 3 seed in the West over the last five games of the regular season.