The Minnesota Timberwolves faced defeat to the San Antonio Spurs, 95-133, in Game 2 of their Western semifinal series. Anthony Edwards came off the bench once again and struggled to lead their offensive charge tonight.
He finished the game with just 12 points and three rebounds in 24 minutes of action. He shot 5-13 from the field (38.5 FG%) and 1-5 from beyond the arc (20.0 3P%) in an overall poor performance from the Timberwolves tonight.
Following the game, Anthony Edwards addressed the media for less than five minutes but candidly reflected on tonight’s game.
“I mean, we started the game too cool. And they came out physical, picking us up full court, and we expected that. But we just came out too flat today, that’s the main thing,” said Edwards in his initial remarks.
He was then asked about whether winning Game 2 helps the Spurs regain momentum and potentially have ‘life’ in this series.
“Yeah, they won by 40. I would have a lot of belief if I were them,” he said.
Edwards then spoke about his opinions on whether he felt the team was too relaxed after winning Game 1.
“I wouldn’t say that we were too comfortable, but they were just the more desperate team, that’s the term,” the Timberwolves star responded.
“Yeah, that was crazy, right?” Edwards said when asked about facing double teams from the moment he crossed halfcourt. “Against it? To be effective, I think we’ve got to watch film on it and find the holes in it.”
“We just didn’t make enough shots today coming out of it. I think we struggled to make shots tonight, so they were just content [doubling] doing it the entire night. So I feel like the more we make shots, the easier it is going to be for me.”
“But attacking early, for me, they’re picking me up full court, so just trying to beat that one-on-one full court press. Get downhill and make a play for my teammates,” he concluded on the question of double-teaming.
“I don’t know, I’ll have to watch the film on it. But if he said we were doing it, then we were because he’s the head coach,” said Edwards on the Timberwolves’ aimless dribbling of the ball tonight.
Subsequently, a reporter asked Edwards what he felt about Jaden McDaniels being in early foul trouble tonight.
“You need Jaden on the floor at all times, whenever he’s available. His being off the court is going to hurt us every time. He knows it, we know it, the whole gym knows it, and even their team knows it.”
“We get in foul trouble, and they get happy. They know to keep him off the floor would affect the game, so yeah, he’s going to be better next game. He knows he can’t really foul because we’re not going to win if he’s not on the floor.”
Edwards further added that he feels comfortable and no longer limited in any physical movement by his lingering injuries. He was then asked if he sees himself starting from the next game.
“That’s not up to me… Yeah, if it’s required, whatever is required, I’m willing to do it,” said Edwards on whether he’s ready to take an increased load of minutes in the game.
Edwards was asked about Chris Finch’s comments, where he claimed that the Timberwolves got “punked” in Game 2.
“Punked is crazy. But I mean, just look at the film, see what we can gain from it. We know where we struggled at, and come out to try and match their physicality.”
In conclusion, a reporter asked the 24-year-old star what he sees about this team that makes him confident that they can face any adversity.
“We’ve just been together for so long, we know each other, and we know what we’ve got to do. You know, I told the guys that the natural tendency for the team that steals the first game, if they’re the away team, they get blown out in Game 2. I told them we can’t come out cool, and we came out cool, and look what happened, we got blown out. My momma used to tell me, ‘A hard head makes a soft a–.'”
“So for those guys, I tip my hat to those guys because they came out and played hard, they were the more desperate team that wanted it. But we’ll see how it goes from here.”
The Timberwolves are now heading home to host the Spurs for the next two games on Friday, May 8, and Sunday, May 10. It will be interesting to see if Edwards bounces back into the starting lineup and hits the ground running in the home phase of this series for the Timberwolves or if the Spurs continue their momentum from tonight to steal a game on the road.
