In four games so far in the Western Conference Finals, Anthony Edwards has had two games where he scored below 20 points in the game with 13 shots. While Edwards refuses to acknowledge that the Thunder defense made him struggle, he has acknowledged that the Thunder defense forced him to play a certain way and very often saw a double team in the game.
It’s a sign of how big a threat the opposing side considers you to be if their defensive plans are built around stopping you. Isiah Thomas, the NBA legend, compared the OKC Thunder’s defensive strategy to how the Pistons used to guard Michael Jordan in his prime.
“What they’re doing is they’re making him a jump shooter, and off of screens, they’re double-teaming him. And this is what we did to Jordan: Jordan never played against Joe [Dumars] by himself. As you can see, we always had three to four people in the lane, and we forced him to be a jump shooter. His athleticism was so great that we could not leave him alone around the rim. When he got near the rim, what we wanted to do was clog the lane. And why did we want to clog the lane? So he couldn’t get the dunk. His athleticism was so great that when he dunked, it ignited the whole team, it ignited the whole crowd. So what we wanted to do was make him a jump shooter, that’s what OKC right now is doing to Minnesota.”
Isiah Thomas went on to explain how the Thunder is shutting down Edwards and even Randle in the same way as the Pistons did with Jordan. He pointed out an interesting stat that clearly explains their defensive strategy.
“In this series right now, as great an athlete as Edwards is he’s only got two dunks in this whole series right now. He’s got 18 layups but check this out, he’s got 48 jump shots.”
Clearly, Edwards has been forced to shoot the ball instead of getting to the rim for the dunk or lay-up. Two of Edwards’ three games with below 20 points in the Playoffs have come against the Thunder. This strategy has clearly helped them make Edwards a lesser threat during the game.
Going into Game 5, the Timberwolves face a massive task against a complicated defense system designed to slow Edwards down. Edwards has averaged 27.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in seven elimination games played in his career. Game 5 could be the end of their Playoff run this year. Will he be able to find a way around the Thunder defense? Or will the Thunder successfully make their first NBA Finals since 2012? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
