Anthony Edwards had already established himself as a playoff performer in his first two trips to the postseason.

He was electric in Minnesota’s first-round loss to Memphis in 2022.

He was unstoppable in Minnesota’s first-round loss to Denver in 2023.

And he was everything Minnesota needed and more in its Game 1 victory over Phoenix on Saturday at Target Center .

The legend only grows with each passing playoff appearance. Saturday was another masterpiece. Phoenix, as it has done all season, threw the kitchen sink at Edwards with multiple different defenders.

The look flustered Edwards during the regular season, and did again early in Game 1. The guard accounted for all four of Minnesota’s first-quarter turnovers. But you can’t keep the all-star down forever — not on the biggest stages, where he always seems to meander his way into the spotlight.

His 15 minutes of fame — which to Phoenix probably felt more like five hours of fury — came in the second half Saturday. Per usual for Edwards, it started in the third. First, he’d attack the rim, then hit a couple mid-range jumpers. Then the triples began to rain down one after another, like haymakers delivered directly to Phoenix’s jaw.

After a triple that put Minnesota up 16 with 50 seconds to play in the quarter, Edwards started talking relentlessly into the ear of Kevin Durant as the two made their way down the floor.

“I think everybody knows that’s my favorite player of all time,” Edwards said. “So that was probably one of the best feelings ever in my whole life, for sure.”

All Durant could do was smile. No hate. Game recognize game. And, at this point, Edwards has made it very clear he’s on the level of many of the game’s current elite talents.

He proves it every time he steps onto the floor in a big moment. Edwards finished with 18 points in the third quarter flurry that resulted in Minnesota essentially putting the game on ice.

“Sometimes, you’ve just got to step back. Because in the moment you’re so locked in on so many things. But at one point in time, you’re just like, ‘What is going on?’ ” Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “Like, that’s the common theme when you’re playing with Ant. One minute, you’re lifting out of the corner to give him an outlet, and it’s off the backboard, and he dunks it. He’s just spectacular. He’s a great player.

“The things that he does are special. And I know he wants to win. So, when you see him in those zones, it’s just Ant trying to win. He’s a determined, confident guy. It’s pretty amazing to watch the way he plays. And, in moments like that, you see his confidence grow, and a lot of guys would shy away from that. He’s not one of them.”

“When you watch Ant, you’re seeing some things that you’ve never seen before,” Naz Reid said. “It’s kind of crazy.”

What’s crazier is Minnesota can so squarely rely on a 22-year-old guard to seize such stages on a consistent basis. Phoenix has Durant, Devin Booker and Brad Beal? No worries, because the Wolves have Anthony Edwards — and that often does feel like enough.

“I mean, he’s our guy,” Rudy Gobert said. “Like I said, I don’t see him as a 22-year-old. He’s our guy.”

And, if he keeps doing what he did Saturday — the guard finished with 33 points, nine rebounds and six assists — and Minnesota keeps winning because of it, he’ll soon be known around the league simply as *the guy.*

Injuries

Kyle Anderson left the first half of Saturday’s game with a hip injury and did not return. Monte Morris stepped into the rotation for Anderson, playing nine minutes.

Phoenix guard Grayson Allen suffered a sprained ankle. X-rays on the ankle were negative, but his status for Game 2 is up in the air as the Suns await to see how he responds to treatment

AP appearance

Among the celebrities attending Saturday’s contest was none other than former Vikings great running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson sat courtside, and was also present in Minnesota’s locker room after the game. The back talked to a number of Wolves players, even giving Naz Reid a brief postgame pep talk.

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Anthony Edwards takes his play to another level in the playoffs. But what would that look like in Timberwolves-Suns series?

After it was thoroughly dismantled in three regular season meetings by Phoenix, the Timberwolves returned the favor when it mattered most.

Minnesota sent a major message to open the series en route to a 120-95 Game 1 victory at Target Center.

Suddenly, the series looks a lot more like advantage Wolves than the tossup it was originally viewed to be. Game 2 of the first-round series is Tuesday in Minneapolis.

What a shift in feelings from a week prior, when the Suns nuked Minnesota on the same floor in the regular season finale, forcing the Wolves into a first-round date with one of the hotter teams in the NBA — no pun intended.

A week ago, Minnesota didn’t seem to have an answer for Phoenix’s plethora of perimeter scorers. Conversations centered on ways in which Minnesota could go smaller to better match up with Phoenix.

But that was far from the case Saturday. Size was very much Minnesota’s ally. Rudy Gobert grabbed 16 rebounds on a day where the Wolves out-rebounded Phoenix 52-28 and scored 52 points in the paint to the Suns’ 34.

That was the thing Minnesota could hang its hat on throughout the day, and utilized it to maintain a healthy advantage capable of enduring any mini-Phoenix run. The Wolves led by 10 at the break.

And then the Anthony Edwards show came to life.

The 22-year-old all-star has always been a primetime performer who’s shined in the playoffs. Saturday was no different. Phoenix had trimmed Minnesota’s advantage to four midway through the third frame when Edwards delivered one of his patented third quarter explosions.

This time, he scored 18 in the quarter with a number of big-time hits. After one of the biggest ones at the end of the third, Edwards started talking all kinds of smack to Kevin Durant — who he’s noted on many occasions has always been his favorite NBA player.

All Durant could do was smile and laugh.

Edwards finished with 33 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

The Wolves truly blew the doors off the contest over a stretch spanning the late in the third quarter and early in the fourth when Edwards, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker put on a 3-point barrage. The trio combined to make 7 of 9 attempts in a span that saw Minnesota’s advantage balloon from 13 to 25.

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Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has a wish for this election cycle. It is simply spoken but may be challenging to make real, at least in part.

“What I would wish for is high turnout and low drama, that is what I want,” Simon said Wednesday, April 17, at the League of Women Voters of the Willmar Area’s “Hot Topics” conversation held at the Willmar Public Library.

The League of Women Voters invited Simon to speak about elections and voting, causes close to the organization’s heart. During his hour-long talk, Simon spoke on new election laws, voting in Minnesota and the challenges of disinformation and misinformation. He said his office and the League of Women Voters can work together to spread the correct information about voting and elections in Minnesota and advocate for voting.

“We are in the democracy business,” Simon said.

For decades, Minnesota has long been one of the top — if not the top — states in the nation for election turnout. In three of the last four elections, Minnesota has had the best voter turnout of the country.

Simon is optimistic that will hold true in 2024. A big reason for Minnesota’s success is a variety of election bills the Legislature, both Republican- and Democrat-led, has passed over the years, Simon said.

“They’ve done a good job balancing two things … access and security,” Simon said. “You want everyday people to be able to vote pretty easily. Security means you want only eligible voters, and no one else taking advantage of that accessibility.”

Laws that have helped with voting accessibility include same-day voter registration, which has been allowed for 51 years, and the opening of absentee voting to all voters, approved in 2013.

“We couldn’t have known in 2013 that in seven years that would basically save the election,” Simon said, pointing to the large number of absentee voters in 2020 due to the pandemic.

In 2023, state lawmakers passed a variety of new and updated voting laws, covering voting rights, registration and protection for election workers.

“Last year, 2023, in the Legislature, it was a really banner year for the democracy business,” Simon said. “I think they’re going to put us in an even better position, balancing access and security.”

Included in the voting and election laws passed last year was restoring the voting rights of those who have been convicted of a felony but have completed their incarceration sentence.

“That is 50,000-plus Minnesotans who got the right to vote back,” Simon said, adding that a big push for his office is to spread the word about this change to those it impacts.

On the voter registration side, Minnesota will now provide automatic voter registration when eligible Minnesota residents renew or apply for a driver’s license, though they can choose to opt out.

Simon explained that only proven American citizens will be able to register to vote, and that undocumented immigrants applying for a license will be removed from the voter registration pile.

Minnesota teenagers age 16 and 17 are now able to pre-register to vote. They complete the registration paperwork so that when they turn 18, their registration is automatically completed so they can cast their ballot during the first election in which they are eligible. Simon has already visited more than 30 high schools in the state, helping sign students up.

“If someone votes the first time they are eligible, they are far more likely to make it a lifelong habit,” Simon said.

One action Minnesota took that may never actually go into effect is passing the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which says that when enough states that total 270 Electoral College votes approve the legislation, those states will give all their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote.

This means no longer would the presidency be given to a candidate who is second in the popular vote.

“It is no longer tenable for us to be electing the person who got the second-most votes to the most powerful job in not only the country but, practically speaking, the world,” Simon said.

This isn’t a knock on former presidents George W. Bush or Donald Trump, who both won the presidency but lost the popular vote. Simon said they were elected president fair and square.

The law also wouldn’t get rid of the Electoral College, but instead, use it to make sure the candidate with the most citizen votes wins. The U.S. Constitution already gives each state the right to choose how it appoints its members to the Electoral College.

“It could be many, many years, decades whether or if we reach 270,” Simon said.

While the state’s election laws will most likely continue to help with the high voter turnout portion of Simon’s 2024 wish, having an election free of drama — especially in a country so divided — will be a little harder to pull off.

The challenges of disinformation, misinformation and the additional problems that can be caused by deepfakes and artificial intelligence are all things Simon is trying to push back on.

“We can lead with the truth,” Simon said.

Simon said he has no issue with people disagreeing with him, or about the laws or how the voting system works. He wants all eligible voters to have the same opportunities to take part in the election but hopes everyone can express their beliefs and opinions in a controlled, non-violent way during a very intense political year with a lot of strong feelings and harshly expressed opinions.

“We are electing the most powerful person on planet Earth,” Simon said. “I think a little intensity and passion are called for.”

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