The Timberwolves were in the midst of a collapse and heading toward a bad loss Friday at Target Center.
An 11-point lead over Dallas to open the final frame was slowly melting away when veteran guard Mike Conley leaned over to Anthony Edwards on the bench and suggested the 24-year-old superstar check himself back into the contest.
“I was like, ‘Nah, he’s going to put me in,’” Edwards said of Wolves coach Chris Finch.
The call to action came with seven minutes remaining after a Tyus Jones’ bucket tied the game at 103-103.
Edwards knew what he had to do. He had to be aggressive.
On his first possession back on the floor, he drilled a step-back triple, which set the table for a mini explosion down the stretch.
Edwards also drove to the hoop, pulled up for mid-range jumpers and buried shots along the baseline. His full arsenal was on display as he scored 14 points down the stretch on 6 for 8 shooting to lift Minnesota to a 122-111 home win over Dallas.
“Ant was awesome,” Finch said. “He finished the game like he can. I thought his shot selection was really good for the most part. He took the right shots. In clutch time, he got to his spots pretty simply.”
That’s long been Finch’s message to Edwards when it comes to end-of-game scoring: Don’t find dribble combinations to get to shots, find simple ways to get to spots. Once you establish your spots you will consistently cash jumpers from, you become infinitely harder for defenses to stop.
Edwards has had the top-of-the-arc triple since the start of last season. But he’s since added the elbow jumper as well as the mid-range, turnaround on the baseline as go-to shots he can generate against essentially any defensive scheme.
“I think Finchy is a big part of my success,” Edwards said. “He’s been preaching that to me for the last two years, so he’s a big part of that.”
It’s why Edwards is shooting 60% from the floor in clutch time this season — segments of the final five minutes of games when the margin is within five points. That’s the best mark in the NBA among the 65 players with north of 25 clutch-time field goal attempts.
Edwards said the development of his 3-point shot in recent years has opened up much on the offensive end.
“I think teams really don’t want me to shoot the step back going left, so they be pressed up,” he said. “They kind of let me go by them, honestly. It’s starting to feel like they just let me go to the rim. So just trying to pick my spots – when to shoot the three, when to get to the pull up, when to get to the rim, just reading the game.”
And choosing correctly more times than not.
“Year after year, I think his decision-making is the key,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “For him to pick his spots and not settling every time and be able to attack and make the right play when they put two on him – find his teammates, trust his teammates. I think he’s been getting better and better, and this year is the best I’ve seen him. It’s huge. We need it. The ball is in his hands, so we need him to be able to make the best decision and to be the best offensive player in the world in those clutch minutes.”
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