Anthony Edwards averaged 25.9 points on 46% shooting during the regular season, but through two games of the Western Conference finals the 22-year-old Timberwolves star has contributed a comparative dud.
Edwards is averaging exactly 20 points after scoring 19 points in Game 1 and 21 in Game 2 against the Mavericks.
There are multiple other factors as to why 56-win Minnesota trails 50-victory Dallas 0-2 in this series entering Sunday night’s Game 3 in American Airlines Center, but sub-par numbers from the engaging player nicknamed “Ant” is near or at the top of the list.
Edwards has attempted only 33 field goals, making 11. Well over half of his attempts, 19, have been 3-pointers. After the Timberwolves’ Sunday morning shootaround in AAC, Edwards vowed that Game 3 will be different.
“Y’all gonna see tonight,” he said. “It’s gonna be a lot of shots. ... I’m gonna be super-aggressive. I mean, I haven’t took more than 16 shots in each game, so I’m gonna be ultra-aggressive coming out, for sure.”
Anthony Edwards vowed to be more aggressive calling his own number in Game 3: “Y’all going to see tonight … It’s going to be a lot of shots” pic.twitter.com/YXYDV85oYM
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 26, 2024
For the record, Edwards took 17 shots in Minnesota’s 109-108 Game 2 loss. The bigger problem for Minnesota is that he made only five of those attempts.
In fact, dating back to Game 5 of Minnesota’s seven-game ouster of reigning champion Denver in the second round, Edwards has scored 18, 27, 16, 19 and 21 points. That’s doused recent comparisons of Edwards to Michael Jordan like a super-sized bucket of ice water.
“I’m just learning it’s tough,” said Edwards, who was seen getting oxygen on the sideline during Game 2. “The playoffs are tough.”
Edwards shook his head on Sunday, however, when asked whether lack of playoff experience is hurting the Timberwolves.
“I don’t think it’s experience,” he said. “I think we just gave them two games. At the end of the game, both games, we’re up by like five with a minute left, and we just gave the game away. Turned it over. Missing layups. Just little things like that.”
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