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Anthony Edwards takes blame for Timberwolves Game 3 clunker, vows to be ready for Game 4

jace frederick, pioneer press
·4 min read

Game 3 on Friday marked one of the worst playoff performances of Anthony Edwards’ young career.

To be fair, that speaks more to the 22-year-old’s general postseason excellence. He has been the best player when he steps onto the playoff floor more times than not in his four-year NBA career.

But that was certainly not the case Friday, as Edwards looked somewhat lifeless, which set the tone for Minnesota in its blowout defeat at Target Center.

Edwards finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists Friday, but also committed five turnovers. Denver doesn’t have a great defensive option to contain the soon-to-be All-NBA guard, but he made himself guardable via a lack of aggression in the loss. Even on the defensive end, Edwards never truly made his presence felt. The guard didn’t even shoot a free-throw in the contest.

“Yeah, it’s all good. I wasn’t aggressive,” Edwards said. “I blame myself.”

Both for his performance, and the team’s. Minnesota had a chance to essentially put the defending champs away at home on Friday. But after the Game 3 stinker, the Nuggets are alive and well, and Game 4 is suddenly of the utmost importance.

“That’s on me. I’ll take the blame for this loss. I came out with no energy at all. I can’t afford to do that for my team,” Edwards said. “I let my team down, coaches down, fans down.”

In the hours leading up to Friday’s tip, Edwards felt as though he had energy. But it dissipated once the game began. The guard said he was “flat” all night, and never found his burst. Even when Edwards did make a mini personal run in the third quarter Friday, it was just the result of a couple made jumpers.

To his credit, tracking data showed Edwards had 10 potential assists Friday, but that only resulted in the five actual dimes as Minnesota struggled to knock down shots. But shotmaking is generally a product of how well an offense is humming. And the Wolves appeared to be stuck in the mud throughout much of Game 3.

Edwards has the ability to throw his game into a higher gear to lift Minnesota out of such stagnancy. He just didn’t do so on Friday.

That doesn’t mean he won’t moving forward.

“I’ll be ready Sunday,” Edwards said.

That’s a good bet. Minnesota hasn’t followed up one awful performance with a second this season. And Edwards is the type of player to react to poor play with a rousing response his next time out.

“He’s going to be fine. He is as confident as anybody you meet. He takes every loss personal, whether he played good or bad,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “He’s going to take it personal and be ready to go Sunday. Our team will be. This is a series. We’re going to have to fight for this one.”

That was Edwards’ message, as well. Even on the bench in the closing minutes Friday – after all the starters had been pulled from the blowout defeat – Edwards was reminding all of his teammates that the series is a race to four wins. And he plans on helping Minnesota earn victory No. 3 on Sunday.

“I like the fact that they punched tonight, and we didn’t punch back. That’s the thing about basketball – that’s fun. We love to compete. It should be very competitive Sunday, and we’re going to be here for it,” Edwards said. “There’s no reason to be negative. They won one game, and we’re going to try to win the next game.”

Shoulder issues

Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s shoulder took a beating Friday as he was clipped trying to wiggle around a couple of screens on defense.

The guard was in clear pain in the locker room post game, as he struggled to even remove his jersey.

(There is) adrenaline in a game. So right now, it hurts,” Alexander-Walker said. “We’ll see what happens (Saturday) when I wake up and everything’s settled. (I’ll do) whatever I gotta do to stay ready, stay focused and be ready for Game 4.”

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