SAN ANTONIO - After the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves knocked off the Denver Nuggets in Game 6, coach Chris Finch gathered the troops in the locker room to deliver a message to his team.

The punctuation and emphasis felt like a rallying cry, or a chant that had been repeated many times over the course of the first-round series.

"and They. Chose. to Play. Us!"

As he brought the guys in to break it down, he added a sentence enhancer as he repeated the apparently-useful bulletin board material. Finch had good reason to be fired up after advancing over a recent champion and three-time MVP, and there can be a tactical benefit to turning a perceived slight into a competitive edge.

THEY CHOSE US. pic.twitter.com/tmpsXp9KM3

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 1, 2026

But like a lot of bulletin board material, it's probably not true.…