While watching the Western Conference finals, NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas noticed something familiar.
The Oklahoma City Thunder did a magnificent job stopping Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards in victory. Thomas said it was reminiscent of how his Detroit Pistons neutralized Michael Jordan in the late 1980s.
"In this series, he ran into a defensive juggernaut similar to the team that we had in Detroit," Thomas told Back In The Day Hoops On SI. "They're using a lot of the same defensive tactics. What we coined the Jordan Rules, they're using now."
Edwards finished with 19 points on 7 of 18 shooting in Thursday's series-clinching loss in Game 5. The Timberwolves have to endure another disappointing end to the season while the Thunder are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.
Edwards had three games under 20 points in the series, including the last two. After drawing consideration for becoming the face of the league, he has now struggled in the last two conference finals.
Thomas said the Timberwolves took Edwards out of the offense with the same strategy the Pistons did four decades ago against Jordan.
"That's because the defense is taking him out of those areas that he likes to play in," Thomas said. "That's what we did with Jordan and that's the same thing that's happening here with Edwards."
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