Minnesota dropped another clutch-time contest Friday in Houston, sinking the Wolves to 15-20 in such games this season.
The 20 losses in the clutch – defined as games with a margin of five points or less at any point in the final five minutes of a game – are the most in the NBA.
If the Timberwolves won just five more of those 35 clutch contests, they’d currently own the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and be in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
“Our issue is we’ve got to win close games,” Wolves coach Chris Finch told reporters on Friday. “We’ve got to be better. Our shot selection and decision making in clutch games has got to improve on the offensive end.”
That starts with Anthony Edwards.
The Wolves guard scored 37 points in the loss to the Rockets, but all 37 came in the contest’s first 41 minutes. Over the final seven, he went 0 for 5 from the field with a turnover. And while Edwards told reporters after the game that he liked the looks he got late, the film reveals many of them were heavily contested, difficult attempts. They didn’t fall and, subsequently, the Wolves lost.
Such is life for Minnesota this season, who has frequently lived and died with Edwards’ insistence on taking tough shots late in games.
Far too often, it’s been a fatal trait.
Edwards has played in 51 fourth quarters this season. In the 26 that have ended in Wolves’ wins, he’s shot 48.8% from the field, and 47.4% from distance.
In the 25 that ended in Wolves’ losses, he’s shot 31.3% from the floor and 31.4% from beyond the arc.
That seems logical. If your best player makes shots late, you win. If he doesn’t, you lose. But 92 NBA players have shot 60 or more times in the fourth quarters of losses this season, and Edwards’ 31.3% mark is the worst among them.
Overall, 52 players have taken 150-plus shots from the field in fourth quarters this season, and Edwards’ 40.1% shooting mark in the final frame ranks 50th among them, ahead of only Houston’s Jalen Green and Washington’s Jordan Poole.
In clutch-time situations this season, Edwards is shooting 40.2% from the field and 30.4% from 3-point range, all while recording more turnovers (10) than assists (nine).
Finch noted “a lot” of the fourth quarter execution falls on Edwards’ shoulders.
“Obviously, because they’re putting two (defenders) on him,” Finch told reporters. “And, for the most part, he’s making the right play. But he’s got to stay with it. And we’ve got to help, too. I’ve got to call a better game down the stretch.”
But Edwards also needs to perform at a higher level on a more consistent basis if Minnesota is to win more close games, which will be a requirement of any effort to surge up the Western Conference standings.
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