Timberwolves need Anthony Edwards to be a two-way standout for duration of postseason run

Anthony Edwards slumped back into his locker room chair after 38 minutes of fury Sunday against New Orleans.

On a day in which he went just 8 for 21 shooting from the field, Edwards still managed to be the game’s most impactful player. He grabbed 13 rebounds, including crashing in for an offensive putback to put the team up by one with 3 minutes, 38 seconds to play.

Fourteen seconds later, he came up with the most important of his four steals, picking Brandon Ingram’s pocket to start a fast-break opportunity that led to a pair of Taurean Prince free throws to extend that Wolves’ lead to three points.

The Pelicans chipped away from there, and were set to tie the score with 1:08 to play, as CJ McCollum dashed uninhibited toward the rim. But while Edwards was late to rotate, once he saw McCollum elevate for a dunk attempt, he set his mind to blocking the shot. And Edwards’ fourth blocked shot of the day was a monstrous denial. The 21-year-old guard finished off an and-1 layup at the other end of the floor to all but seal the No. 8 seed in the play-in tournament.

That was a small taste of Edwards’ impact Sunday. The bigger imprint was Ingram’s lack of offensive looks in the final quarter. After scoring 27 points in the first half, Ingram took just three shots in the decisive fourth quarter as Edwards lived on his hip.

“I just tried to be as physical as I can, man. I’m super strong. I’ve been guarding him for three years since I’ve been in the league, and I’ve always noticed the contact, he don’t really like the contact, the physicality,” Edwards said. “He wants the smooth game where he can get to his spot and raise. He still was getting there and making the shots, but I was just trying to make it tough and being physical.”

In a postgame exchange outside the team locker room in which injured Pelicans star Zion Williamson expressed his admiration for Edwards, the Timberwolves guard responded “shot wasn’t falling, gotta get it on the other end.”

Edwards did that with the eight combined blocks and turnovers and extinguishment of the opponent’s top scorer. Doing so while still serving as the Woves’ primary driver of offense is difficult to sustain, but that’s what Edwards is tasked with moving forward.

With Jaden McDaniels out for the foreseeable future with a broken hand suffered Sunday, Edwards is Minnesota’s top remaining perimeter defender. Truth be told, against anyone who is best deterred by physicality, Edwards is the best perimeter defensive option, McDaniels included.

Perimeter defense will be of heightened importance in Tuesday’s play-in game with center Rudy Gobert suspended for the game. The Timberwolves must not allow the Lakers to get into the paint at will. That means Edwards will have to contain D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves or, most prominently, LeBron James.

As he reminded everyone Sunday, he’s capable. When Edwards is truly locked in, he is about as good on the ball as anyone in the league. Few players in the NBA can ascend to Edwards’ peak level of two-way dominance.

“It’s like he could do that all game, every night, night in and night out. I’ve seen that all year. I know how good defensively he is,” Wolves forward Kyle Anderson said. “I think we’ve just got to challenge him on being better all the time defensively and not just pick his spots.”

There is no better time for that than the present.

“He does a pretty good job and we try to do a good job of keeping him off some of those (premier) matchups until we feel they’re best-employed,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “But when you’re down three or four guys, you don’t have that luxury. It’s playoff basketball right now. We have to play that way all the time. Might not be able to do it offensively all the time, too. But it’s (like), what are you saving yourself for?”

©2023 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at twincities.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.