The NBA’s pre-playoff ad campaign features a number of players discussing whether there’s a “playoff” version of themselves.

Playoff Tatum?

Playoff Shai?

Playoff Brunson?

The list goes on.

In the ads, everyone suggests not. But ask Timberwolves fans that same question about 22-year-old star guard Anthony Edwards and the response would be a resounding “Yes.”

Edwards is now widely known as a big game hunter who seeks out and shines in the most prominent moments against the highest-profile foes.

There is no stage bigger and brighter than the NBA playoffs, and that’s where — through two career playoff series — Edwards has been at his very best.

Edwards averaged 25 points while shooting 40% from distance in 2022 against Memphis. A year ago against eventual champion Denver, Edwards kept a shorthanded squad competitive by lighting up the Nuggets to the tune of 31.2 points, 5.2 assists and five boards per game.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has often said the guard understands the moment. In the upcoming first-round series against Phoenix, it’s just as important for Edwards to understand the assignment.

Edwards averaged just 14.3 points in three meetings against Phoenix this season — the fewest he scored against any Western Conference opponent. The Suns held Edwards to abysmal shooting percentages: 31% from the field and 27% from 3-point range. And they did so without possessing a truly elite perimeter defender.

How?

“They put three on the ball, basically, every time. Two on the ball, three on the ball,” Finch said. “They were committed, obviously, to not let him get downhill.”

And given the success it had with the approach, it’s unlikely Phoenix changes course when Game 1 tips on Saturday.

Does Edwards need more shots than the seven he had in Sunday’s defeat? Of course. But Minnesota also needs fewer than the five turnovers he committed out of the team’s 24.

“Yeah, it’s just us making mistakes, making the pass one beat later, one beat too late,” Edwards said. “Me playing in crowds. They putting three people on me, so I just got to make the right reads, trust my teammates, and when some of my teammates hit those shots, they gonna have to eventually get out of it.”

That’s the plan. The balance between being aggressive and making the right play is often a fine line for star players to walk. Edwards has spent the last couple of years figuring out exactly where that line is.

Over the past month-plus, Edwards took a massive leap in that department, properly diagnosing when to get off the ball and when to attack.

“Ant has been really good all year about making the right read, the right play. They’re forcing him to make that and we have to give him help by taking advantage of it, to take care of it, make shots, make them pay for putting two, three guys on him,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “I think it’ll open it up for him.”

That’s what happened over the last month-plus, as Edwards would get off the ball, the Wolves would play beautiful offense centered on ball and player movement and the guard would find himself in second-side actions with an opportunity to go at non-set defenses.

But there’s making the right play in the regular season, and there’s making the right play when those lights he often shines under are beating down upon you.

While playoff pressure often turns Edwards into a diamond, it also can cause players to fall into familiar habits. For Edwards, that could be to try to take a game over himself. While that’s worked in past playoff appearances, it likely won’t against a Phoenix defense that’s specifically stacked up to stop him.

That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t shoot and score. Minnesota needs him to do plenty of both to win the series. But the manner in which the buckets occur can’t be as simple as dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, score.

“He’s gotta be aggressive in other ways, too. He’s gotta get a little bit more in transition, gotta play in space, move himself a little bit more and pick his spots in pick and roll to still be aggressive,” Finch said. “But being aggressive you still gotta commit the defense and then make the right play. But yeah, I’m confident we can get him going.”

And the Wolves are confident Edwards can get himself going, as he usually does. It just may require a patient initial approach before the guard officially enters any sort of takeover mode.

“When I see the lanes and the space, I got to go — and it may not be a lot, but when I see it, I got to take it, take advantage of it, because I haven’t been doing that in the last few matchups,” Edwards said. “I’ve just been playing into their hands, getting off of it every time.”

That’s too far the other way. The line is ever-shifting. Edwards must again prove he can successfully walk it.

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By DORANY PINEDA (Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California regulators voted Wednesday to establish a drinking water limit on hexavalent chromium, a toxic chemical compound made infamous by the movie “Erin Brockovich.”

The rule is the first in the nation to specifically target the heavy metal, known as chromium-6, and is expected to reduce the number of cancer and kidney disease cases from long-term ingestion, state officials say.

The proposal was unanimously passed by the State Water Resources Control Board, though it needs approval from the Office of Administrative Law to take effect.

The standard could inspire other states to adopt their own. More than 200 million Americans are estimated to have the chemical compound in their drinking water, according to an analysis of federal water testing data by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization.

Until now, California combined its drinking water standard for chromium-6 with the less toxic trivalent chromium, an essential nutrient. California’s new limit on chromium-6 is 10 parts per billion — about 10 drops of water in a swimming pool.

“I know there’s mixed feelings about this decision today… that we should be at a lower standard,” board member Sean Maguire said before the vote. “But I do want to take a step back and look at California as compared to the rest of the nation, and I think here we are actually leading the way.”

Community members and health advocates worry California’s limit doesn’t do enough to protect public health from the metal. They want the state to adopt a drinking water limit closer to the public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion, the level scientists have said does not pose significant health risks.

“This really leaves a lot of California communities unprotected from that really potent carcinogen,” said Tasha Stoiber, senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group.

The board is required by law to set a limit as close to the public health goal as is economically and technologically feasible.

Some public water providers warned that with the new standard customers will pay more for water and the financial burden will disproportionately fall on disadvantaged communities. And some chemical industry groups have said the limit is not based on the most recent science.

The new limit will cost public water systems $483,446 to $172.6 million annually to monitor and treat water exceeding the standard, according to state water board estimates.

Cástulo Estrada, board vice president of the Coachella Valley Water District and utilities manager for Coachella city, said the limit would have “unprecedented” impacts on residents and customers. He said all six of the city of Coachella’s wells have chromium-6 above 10 parts per billion and that installing technology to lower levels to the limit would cost an estimated $90 million. “That would increase monthly bills.”

Ana Maria Perez, a Monterey County resident, urged the board to set a lower limit that would protect communities with chronic water contamination. “We have been waiting for a chromium-6 limit that protects our health,” she said in Spanish. “It’s not fair that many people must get sick.”

Water providers will need to start testing for chromium-6, which is naturally occurring and produced in industrial processes, within six months of the effective date, anticipated in October. If water tests above the limit, they will need to submit a compliance plan within 90 days and comply within two to four years, depending on how many customers are served.

Chromium is naturally occurring in soil, plants, animals, rocks and more, and can leach from soil into groundwater. It comes in various forms, including chromium-6, and is used in electroplating, stainless steel production, leather tanning, textile manufacturing and wood preservation, which all can contribute to drinking water contamination, according to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

While scientists have known for decades that inhaling chromium-6 can cause lung cancer, it was uncertain for a long time whether ingestion could cause cancer, too.

Studies by the National Toxicology Program changed that. Rodents that drank water with high levels of chromium–6 over two years developed intestinal and oral cancer, results showed.

Some researchers have criticized the studies, saying the chemical concentrations the rodents were given were thousands of times higher than what U.S. drinking water supplies would have.

The California environmental health hazard agency is updating its public health goal for hexavalent chromium, which was finalized in 2011 at 0.02 parts per billion. At that level, the lifetime risk for cancer is one-in-one-million, an amount generally accepted by health experts.

Some health advocates urged the board to wait to establish a limit until an updated public health goal is released. But some environmental justice nonprofits that favor a lower limit said the board should not wait longer.

With California’s new limit, the risk of cancer is 500 times greater than the public health goal. One person out of 2,000 exposed for 70 years to drinking water with 10 parts per billion of chromium-6 may experience cancer, according to a state water staff report.

Studies on the health impacts of ingesting chromium-6 through drinking water are limited, said Maria-Nefeli Georgaki, an environmental health specialist who has studied the health effects of ingesting chromium-6. But, she added, a maximum of 10 parts per billion is an important start that should then be “adjusted according to both the public health issues that arise, and the new research data, at specific regular intervals.”

Water staff must review standards every five years. But during Wednesday’s meeting, Darrin Polhemus, deputy director for the water board’s drinking water division, said they are constantly reviewing standards.

In 2014, the state adopted a limit of 10 parts per billion but it was overturned in 2017 for failing to consider whether the rule would be economically feasible.

The standard is the latest chapter in a decades-long fight to regulate the chemical that gained notoriety with the 2000 movie “Erin Brockovich,” which won Julia Roberts the Best Actress Oscar. In the 1990s, Brockovich helped investigate groundwater contaminated with chromium-6 that was sickening a Southern California community. Residents eventually won a $333 million settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for contaminating their water.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.

The Gophers men’s basketball team netted a big rebounder in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.

Canisius forward Frank Mitchell committed to Minnesota after visiting the U campus early this week.

In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior was fourth in Division I last season with 11.6 rebounds per game. The second-team all-MAAC honoree from Toronto averaged a double-double a year ago, along with 12.1 points across 31 games.

The Gophers are in need of multiple post players, primarily with the outgoing transfer of rising junior center Pharrel Payne. Minnesota now has at least four open scholarships this spring.

Against high-major competition last season, Mitchell had 12 points and nine rebounds in two different games against Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Head coach Ben Johnson previously said he looked at rebounding numbers translating for other incoming transfers.

Mitchell didn’t start competitive basketball until age 18 and played the 2021-22 season at Humber College in Toronto. He practiced with the Canisius team a year ago but sat out due to transfer rules, per his team bio.

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