Dirk stunned by Ant shaking Spurs' hands with 8 minutes left: 'Never seen this'

Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards showed his respect to the San Antonio Spurs advancing to the Western Conference finals Friday.

The only problem was that there were eight minutes remaining in Game 6 when he opted to congratulate his opponents. The moment left the NBA on Prime crew, led by Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, and Udonis Haslem, mystified.

"I've watched the NBA and been a part of it for a long, long time. I've never seen this," Nowitzki said. "A guy walking into the huddle with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter and dapping up the entire team. Too much for me. You can do that after the game ... That was a little strange for me."

Edwards checked out of the game with the Spurs leading 128-95. The four-time All-Star didn't reenter the contest after that, and San Antonio wound up winning 139-109.

"At that point, you know you ain't going back in, so you're just trying to get them respect they deserve," Edwards, who went 9-for-26 for 24 points in the loss, said postgame.

Griffin and Haslem both agreed with Nowitzki.

"As great as Ant is as a basketball player, there's still some growth in him as well," Haslem added. "Because, as a leader, I would not have walked down there and shook their hands ... with eight minutes left in the game. ... I would not show that weakness. The game is not over. I got eight minutes left. I still got smoke coming out of my ears (because) I'm so damn mad that we're losing."

Edwards averaged 21.6 points with 5.7 rebounds over 32.4 minutes in 10 games this postseason, leading the Timberwolves to a hard-fought series victory over the Denver Nuggets in the opening round.

The Spurs advance to face the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder swept the Los Angeles Lakers and remain undefeated this postseason. Game 1 between San Antonio and Oklahoma is set for Monday, May 18, at 8:30 p.m. ET.