Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves have a chance to put away the Los Angeles Lakers on the road.
Whether Edwards says it or not, sending Luka Doncic and Olympic teammate LeBron James home would feel good. Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks had no problem showing their glee when they took out the Timberwolves in last season’s Western Conference Finals.
Last season’s playoff run showed what the Timberwolves could be. Before the Western Conference finals, Edwards punished his idle, Kevin Durant, and the Phoenix Suns in a 4-0 sweep.
Up next was Nikola Jokic. Down 3-1, Edwards led the Timberwolves back and forced a game 7 in Denver. It’s a game the young, plucky bunch is supposed to lose to the biggest, baddest man in the NBA. Edwards was having none of that. Down 20, Minnesota would stun the Nuggets 98-90.
Since that moment, Edwards has been building for this moment.
He spent the summer on the Olympic Basketball team nicknamed The Avengers.
Unlike Jayson Tatum, Edwards saw the moment as one to build on. There wasn’t a peep when his playing time decreased in the semifinals against Serbia and the Gold Medal game against France. He made the most of this time. In a little over nine minutes against France, Edwards shot 3-7, including 2-3 from the three-point line. The eight points Edwards scored were essential in the United States win.
That level of maturity has been on display this season.
Minnesota made a league-impacting deal when they traded Karl Anthony-Towns to New York, bringing back Julius Randle and Dante DiVincenzo, among others.
Predictably, Minnesota started slowly as Edwards and Randle learned to play alongside each other. Both players can be dribble-heavy, and the Timberwolves offense looked sluggish and disjointed.
However, Edwards, Randle, and head coach Chris Finch figured out how to maximize the two with the complementary pieces.
Minnesota started the season 9-10. From March 2nd on, the Timberwolves were 17-4. It’s safe to say they figured it out, and the Lakers are feeling it.
Edwards has taken his game to another level. He had career-highs in three-point shooting percentage (39.5%) and three-point attempts (10.3). It’s not very often when a player takes almost four additional three-point attempts per game and sees a rise in three-point shooting percentage.
He has been even more dangerous from the three-point line in the playoffs. Edwards is shooting 43.2% from long distance on 9.3 attempts. That presents all kinds of issues for the Lakers. They don’t have anyone who can stay in front of Edwards when he’s in an attacking position. When defenders give him room, he punishes them with three-pointers.
Having the floor open allows for Edwards’ teammates to thrive in space. Jaden Daniels and Naz Reid have been the beneficiaries of the floor spacing. Anytime there’s a mismatch on the floor, the Timberwolves have efficiently identified and, more importantly, taken advantage of those mismatches.
In the first four games of the series, Edwards led just once, but he’s led them in rebounding twice and assists three times. This is the mentality the US Olympic team had during the summer: Check your ego at the door and do what you need to do to win.
Edwards brought that mantra back from Paris to Minneapolis, and the Lakers are feeling it.
