The Minnesota Timberwolves stunned the Los Angeles Lakers and took a 1-0 lead in their first-round playoff series with a 117-95 blowout win in Crypto.com Arena on Saturday. The Lakers were the favorites in the eyes of the national media coming into this series, and postgame, Anthony Edwards was asked about that and if he had a message for the fans who were seeing everyone pick against their team.
“No message, man,” Edwards said. “They still got the Lakers. The Lakers supposed to win. That’s just how it’s supposed to go. We’re not supposed to be here, so we just going to compete to the best of our ability.”
Despite the Timberwolves winning in dominant fashion, many in the media would indeed still be backing the Lakers to win this series. Edwards recognizes they won’t get the respect they deserve, and they’ll just be letting their play on the court do the talking for them.
The Timberwolves showed in Game 1 that not only do they belong, but that they’re going to make life extremely difficult for the Lakers. They completely outplayed their more-fancied opponents on both ends of the floor to snatch homecourt advantage.
The Timberwolves put the clamps on the Lakers, holding them to just 39.8% (33-83) shooting from the field. The hosts started the game well offensively, but were shut down in the second and fourth quarters.
The Lakers managed just 20 points in the second and 17 in the fourth, and you’re not going to win too many games where you’re that ineffective offensively. Luka Doncic, who had 37 points on 12-22 shooting from the field, was pretty much the only Laker to have success against that Timberwolves defense.
It was bad enough for the Lakers that they couldn’t find answers offensively, but they made matters worse with some shoddy defending, too. The Timberwolves got one too many open looks, and they took full advantage of that. The visitors shot 51.2% (44-86) from the field and 21-42 (50.0%) from beyond the arc, and it was one of their best offensive performances of the season.
Edwards didn’t have a monstrous outing against the Lakers, but he was a big reason why the Timberwolves were clicking offensively. The 23-year-old finished the night with 22 points (8-22 FG), eight rebounds, nine assists, and one steal.
Edwards kept making the right play when the Lakers sent multiple bodies at him, and he was expecting to face a lot of defensive attention in this series. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had spoken about the three-time All-Star’s mindset before this clash against the Lakers.
“He’s kinda humbly taken that step back to say, ‘Listen, this might not be the Ant series because I’m gonna need you guys because of how they’re gonna play me,'” added Alexander-Walker. “He’s going to be aggressive. He’s going to be Ant.”
Edwards’ teammates did step up, with Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid scoring 25 and 23 points, respectively. If these two and the likes of Julius Randle deliver moving forward, the Lakers are in a heap of trouble.
Game 2 has now become a must-win for the Lakers as they cannot afford to go down 0-2 with Games 3 and 4 in Minnesota. Edwards, though, would be looking to put his foot on their throats when the teams face off at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 10 PM ET.
