Anthony Edwards stared into the shallow depths of his locker for five minutes straight without saying a word or moving a muscle after the Timberwolves dropped Game 3 to Denver on Friday.
The guard then stood up and exited the locker room without saying a word to anyone, including the media. But there was a message repeatedly running through Edwards’ mind: “I can’t get swept.”
“I didn’t want to say I got swept,” the 21-year-old guard said. “I don’t ever want to say I got swept in my career.”
So he took Sunday’s Game 4 at Target Center as a personal mission. He would not lose that game. Determining as much by yourself is a tall task, particularly when the opponent is far superior to Edwards’ team. Denver looks primed for a deep postseason run. Throughout much of this first-round playoff series — and, frankly, large chunks of the regular season — Minnesota has appeared primed for an early offseason.
It’s difficult to defer the seemingly inevitable. But that’s what Edwards did Sunday in Minneapolis. At least for one night, he resurrected not only his team’s season, but hope.
Target Center was in the midst of a doldrum through the first two and a half quarters of Sunday’s game. The arena that has been deafening during climactic moments over the past two seasons had difficulty rising past a murmur for the first 30 minutes of Game 4. The building appeared to be about 15 percent empty on a must-win night where get-in prices sat comfortably below $20.
This has been an up-and-down season for the Timberwolves thanks to a number of factors ranging from injuries to continuity to fit. It’s no secret there are public doubts about not only the cost of the Rudy Gobert trade made by the front office last offseason, but the roster construction that resulted from it.
Minnesota has looked good on some nights and awful on others. The inconsistency is maddening for a fan base. The Timberwolves built up a bevy of good will a year ago with an overachieving team that was relentless and jubilant on a night-to-night basis. This year’s group has not delivered the same vibes.
That, as much as the 3-0 series hole against the Nuggets, seemed to be the root of the lack of emotion in the home crowd Sunday. But Edwards is capable of the types of burst few in the NBA can replicate. With his athleticism, scoring ability and general confidence and demeanor, there is little for an opponent to do when he’s “on” as he was in the third quarter of Game 4.
After a Nikola Jokic three-pointer put Denver up nine with fewer than eight minutes to play in the third quarter, Edwards scored 14 points over the remainder of the quarter to help Minnesota build a six-point edge heading into the fourth. Each one of his buckets raised the belief just a bit higher than maybe this team’s season wasn’t over just yet.
“We’re down nine. I know my team. I know they’re counting on me to pick us up. That’s just what I do,” Edwards said. “I feel like in those moments, that’s when I come alive the most is when we go down.”
Those bursts from Edwards raise not only the spirits, but the play, of those around him. Since his arrival in Minnesota as the team’s No. 1 overall pick in 2020, the wing has been the team’s barometer and lightning rod.
“The energy he brings, his personality, when he’s playing like that, you see the joy,” veteran point guard Mike Conley said. “You see the kid come out of him and you can’t help but get excited, and he brings everybody along. He’s just a fun dude to be around when he’s going like that. We just love to be a part of those runs, and we need more of them.”
Edwards has delivered those runs and general performances with stunning consistency through his two career playoff series — last year’s first-round loss to Memphis and this current bout with the Nuggets. Edwards’ star started to truly ascend against the Grizzlies, and now it’s illuminating the Twin Cities night skies on a game-to-game basis.
“He’s got a special quality we talked about. He’s not afraid of those moments at this point in time. You see what they’re made of,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “They can shy away from them. He certainly doesn’t.”
Rather, he embraces them. Edwards took the blame for Minnesota allowing Denver’s frantic rally at the end of regulation Sunday to force overtime, citing a number of ill-advised shots he attempted down the stretch. He had the ball in his hands in the closing seconds of a tie game Sunday, and didn’t even manage to get off a shot.
But he redeemed himself at the end of overtime when Minnesota was up one point with fewer than 15 seconds to play. Edwards sized up Denver’s Aaron Gordon, created space with his patented step back and threw up a three-point shot that caught nothing but net to all but seal Minnesota’s flight to Denver for Game 5. That shot sent a once-drowsy fan base into a state of euphoria.
“I wasn’t passing the ball. I was taking the shot,” Edwards said. “I was going to live with whether I lost us the game or we won. I end up hitting the shot.”
Minnesota can live with it, too. Because while there are certainly times when Edwards falls into the late-game “hero ball” trap that ultimately can doom the Timberwolves, it’s always clear the guard has the team’s best interests at heart.
And there is little doubt remaining that this franchise will only go as far as Edwards carries it.
Series like this are mandatory for the 21-year-old’s continued growth. The playoffs serve as the ultimate test for the game’s rising stars. Edwards continues to find answers, only to then uncover new questions.
“It actually brings the most out of me,” Edwards said of the playoffs. “Because most teams want to cut off my left hand. But it shows me that I actually can go right, and it gives me more confidence to go right. Like I showed (Sunday), I can go right and finish, and that’s what they was giving me, and I was taking it.
“I love the playoffs. This is my second time, but I love the feeling, man, I love the crowd. It’s just a blessing, man, to be here.”
Minnesota is still likely to lose this first-round series to Denver. It very well may come to an end Tuesday in Denver. Despite his personal successes, Edwards will undoubtedly view the experience as a failure. It’s a process all great players endure.
And greatness does seem to be where Edwards is heading. On his podcast Sunday, Edwards’ former teammate Patrick Beverley re-stated his belief that Anthony Edwards could be the next Michael Jordan.
That looks less and less like hyperbole with each passing playoff performance. Regardless of everything else happening around him, the 21-year-old keeps giving Minnesota’s fan base something to truly believe in.
This much is clear as of late Sunday night: The Timberwolves aren’t quite dead yet, and Anthony Edwards is just getting started.
