When the Minnesota Timberwolves begin the second round of the playoffs this week, they’ll have one more active observer tuning in to see what Anthony Edwards does next.
“So impressed with Ant. My favorite player to watch,” Suns All-Star Kevin Durant said Sunday night.
“Just grown so much since he came into the league. His love for the game shines so bright. That’s one of the reasons I like him the most. He just loves basketball. He’s grateful to be in this position. He’s taken advantage of every opportunity that he’s gotten. Love everything about Ant … everything. I’ll be watching going forward. I was really impressed with him. It’s going to be somebody I’m following the rest of his career.”
Durant and Edwards are part of Team USA this summer, but the 22-year-old has more work to do before getting to Paris for the Summer Olympics.
Edwards led the Timberwolves to a four-game sweep of the Suns, who had taken all three games from Minnesota in the regular season. Head coach Frank Vogel used a swarm defense to hold Edwards to fewer than 15 points per game in the regular season.
But Edwards turned the playoff series into a personal highlight tape. In Game 4, he transitioned quickly from denying All-Star and Olympic teammate Devin Booker at the rim to throwing one down over Durant at the other end of the court.
“Certain players get into a zone,” Vogel said. “He’s got to see five defenders.”
Booker scored 49 points in Game 4, but Edwards had 40 of his own and pushed Minnesota into the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2004 with the first playoff sweep in franchise history.
Now the Timberwolves transition into another unfamiliar feeling — how to fill the next seven days without a game. Likely to begin the second round on the road with the Denver Nuggets leading the Los Angeles Lakers (3-1), the earliest possible start date for the Timberwolves’ next series is Saturday.
Edwards said last season he wouldn’t view himself as a player who reached star status until he gets the job done in the playoffs.
“He’s the face of the league,” Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns said. “He hates when I say it, but it’s true. Like I said, ‘Future so bright, got to put the sunglasses on.'”
–Field Level Media
