MINNEAPOLIS – To be the anti-Ant, Christian Braun knows he can't shy away from Ant's antics.

This is a fight where you have to embrace and even enjoy your opponent's penchant for talking nonsense. It's a match that requires a willingness to defend on an island where defensive errors are more common. It's a match that rewards intensity and boldness.

Braun doesn't have nearly the name recognition or star power of Anthony Edwards. But he has the confidence to believe his defense and Edwards' offense can be equal. As he told the Denver Post this summer, referring to the second round of the 2024 playoffs, “I think in this last series everyone saw what I’m capable of.”

The Nuggets know there is no escape from the Timberwolves. They expect this to be an ongoing divisional battle that extends well beyond Friday night's showdown, the first rematch since Denver's Game 7 failure. And Braun knows there is no escape from Edwards, the 23-year-old supernova whose rise has accelerated Minnesota's rise.

“He’s competitive. I am competitive. We've seen each other a lot,” said Braun, also 23, who was entrusted this season to be Denver's leading defensive player – the answer to Edwards, perhaps for the foreseeable future. “We had a lot of possession against each other. I got my stops. He got his buckets. So I understand that he is a guy that I will be very protective of. I really enjoy his playing. I love watching him. I enjoy playing against him. He is one of the most fun players to play against in the league simply because he is so competitive. It’s a good, competitive balance with him.”

Don't get Braun wrong: He doesn't like the Timberwolves. That's what he said in the locker room after Game 7, when the Nuggets blew a 20-point lead in the second half. He claimed that Denver and Minnesota were officially rivals that night. “Actually, I just said that again,” Braun told The Post on Friday at the Target Center, referring to another interview he had just completed. He believes that assessment still holds true, even after Minnesota made an identity-changing roster move this preseason, trading Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.

“We play together a lot. “They’re obviously going to be a top contender in the West for a long time,” Braun said. “They have one of the best players in the NBA. He's still there. There are still a lot of people there. That sense of rivalry is (still there) at the top of all teams. OKC, whoever it is, we want that rivalry feeling to happen. You want to get up for these games. And for this team, we have to stand up quite often.”

Despite this label, his respect for Edwards is clear. The All-NBA guard entered the league in 2020 as the No. 1 overall pick out of Atlanta. Braun came two years later with the 21st pick. One of his high school teammates and later roommates in Denver, Mike Peake, was Edwards' teammate during his only college basketball season at Georgia. “My best friend played with him, so we had a few conversations,” Braun said.

Edwards was one of the five highest isolation players in the NBA entering Friday night. He also led the league in 3-point attempts, averaging 13.3 per game. He made 41.5% of them.

Braun wasn't Denver's primary defender against Edwards last season, but in 26 minutes during the seven-game series he held Edwards to 4-for-12 shooting, according to the league's matchup data. These representatives gave the Nuggets additional confidence in Braun's potential as the successor to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who ultimately signed with Orlando as an unrestricted free agent. In a strange way, a series that left Denver scarred also gave Braun a boost.