Anthony Edwards latest NBA superstar to deal knockout punch to Phoenix Suns in playoffs

Anthony Edwards now has something in common with Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo in four straight years.

After the Phoenix Suns lost by six to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series on Sunday, Edwards joined that succession of superstars who eclipsed the Suns when the team faced playoff elimination, busting their championship aspirations. The Suns had no answer for all of them in the playoffs from 2021 through this season.

Edwards dropped 40 points, and reveled in the glory of Minnesota's series victory by knocking out his "favorite player of all time" and USA basketball teammate for this summer's Paris Olympics, Kevin Durant.

"It's the best feeling in the world to send him home," Edwards said. "I don't even think I outplayed him. He played great throughout the whole series but my team outplayed his."

It's the kind of thing that has haunted Suns' fans since the NBA Finals in 2021.

Antetokounmpo dropped 50 points in Milwaukee in the 2021 finals-closing Game 6. He capped a series in which the Suns, after going up 2-0, lost four straight to the Bucks.

Doncic, Jokic and Edwards came into Phoenix and made the Suns humbly clean out their locker room after ending the Suns' season on their Footprint Center home court in the 2022, '23 and '24 playoffs.

During the memorable Game 7 of the West semifinals round in 2022, the Dallas Mavericks' Doncic outscored the Suns' 17 first-quarter points by himself with 27, finished with the game-high 35, and the Mavericks had a 30-point lead by halftime. Doncic giggled as he ended the No. 1 overall seed Suns' title hopes and their landmark 64-win season.

In 2023, the Denver Nugget's two-time MVP Jokic demolished the Suns with his triple-double of 32 points (13-of-18 shooting), 10 rebounds, 12 assists and three steals in the West semifinals Game 6. That muffled Suns fans' joy after they acquired Durant from Brooklyn a few months prior, which spiked their NBA championship odds.

One thing that Edwards, Jokic, and Doncic shared was a supporting cast that had been together for an extended period, according to Durant.

"Continuity is important. All the great teams have been together for two to three years. Minnesota. Denver. Boston," Kevin Durant said.

The Timberwolves All-Stars Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, and swingman Jaden McDaniels have played together since 2020. Rudy Gobert and Conley joined them in a trade from Utah last season.

Denver's core players Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. had been together since 2018 before they won the 2023 title, and the Nuggets' four-man Aaron Gordon came to the team in a trade from Orlando in 2021.

Booker is the only player remaining from the Suns' 2021 finals run. Durant and Josh Okogie are the only ones, along with Booker, from last year's team who received rotation minutes this season. Damion Lee (who was injured and didn't play this season), Saben Lee, and Ish Wainright were with the team last year, but this year on the bottom of their 15-man roster, the latter two ineligible for the playoffs because they were on two-way contracts.

In addition, Suns first-year coach Frank Vogel repeatedly described his team as "year one" all season long and entering Game 4.

With the exception of Jason Kidd in his first year with Dallas in the 2021-22 season, Chris Finch has been Minnesota's coach since 2021, and Michael Malone became the Denver coach in 2015.

"Coach Finch did a great job this series and their whole team created a lot of problems for us," Vogel said. "Their role players, their stars, Anthony Edwards is just a special talent, their bigs played really well this series and their role players, like I said, with (Jaden) McDaniels and (Nickeil) Alexander-Walker in particular and (Mike) Conley hurt us with the way those guys pressured."

Injuries caused the Suns to have 21 different starting lineups and the Big 3 played just 41 games together. That's mainly because Bradley Beal missed 29, and didn't make a full recovery from his back and ankle injuries until after Christmas.

"This is a tough league," Booker said. "At the end of all of this, there is going to be one winner, and everybody that does not win is going to go into somewhat of a panic mode and feel like they all need to make changes, do this and do that. But I think over time, experience is the best teacher.

"So, the more you can spend time together, feel this hurt together, and go through it together, the better off you are in the future.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Timberwolves' Edwards joins NBA stars ending Suns' playoff runs