Anthony Edwards had struggled down the back stretch of the regular season. Over his final 13 games, Edwards shot just 42 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range.
Not horrifying — especially not as opponents stacked their entire defenses against the 22-year-old all-star guard — just not Edwards’ usual numbers.
Alongside the added defensive attention, fatigue seemed to be a likely culprit for any decline in production for the Timberwolves’ biggest star. Edwards played the eighth-most minutes in the NBA this season (2,770) and was asked to do a lot when he was in the game.
That can wear anyone down.
Then came Saturday’s explosion as Edwards again rose to his typical sky-high playoff standards. It was tough to not draw a line directly from the Timberwolves’ week off between the regular season and Saturday’s Game 1 of the playoffs and Edwards’ return to glory.
So, Ant, how much did the days off help the body?
“Nah, there wasn’t no days off, man,” Edwards said. “I feel like I got in the best shape of my life this week.”
Go on.
“Finchy’s (butt) was running me through all types of actions, double teams, triple teams, quadruple teams,” Edwards said. “So I feel like I got in the best shape of my life, man.”
Timberwolves players throughout the week described practices as intense and competitive. Clearly, they were also productive.
Edwards saw a number of looks the Phoenix Suns would toss at him to prepare for the series. And the Timberwolves also were able to raise their level of competitiveness to where it needed to be in order to produce Saturday’s shellacking, an eye-opening and somewhat surprising 120-95 victory.
Game 2 of the first-round NBA Western Conference playoff series is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Target Center.
Rest and recovery may sound like the best way to prep for what could be a grueling two-month marathon if all goes well for the Timberwolves. But it’s only fitting that this team decided on more hard work and sweat.
The early returns are positive.
“I played the whole third (quarter), started the fourth, and I really wasn’t gassed,” Edwards said. “So I thank my coaches, man, to the best of my ability. I appreciate them, man, putting me in the right positions and not worry about if I’m tired or not. Because this week, man, they were pushing me, and I needed that.”
That week of rigorous practice also allowed the Timberwolves to implement a number of changes in an attempt to flip the results of the regular-season series that greatly benefited Phoenix to playoff payouts for the Wolves.
“I think having that week not having to worry about the play-in just got us going,” Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “Homecourt advantage as well, sleeping in your own bed. Small things like that. Everyone was just locked-in, everyone was locked-in. And I knew from Game 82, once it finished, knowing they were (the No. 6 seed) and we were No. 3, we knew what we needed to do. And I think from that moment was leading to this series, how to prepare for this series.”
The Timberwolves’ primary changes were:
— Moving Karl-Anthony Towns to defend Kevin Durant, putting Mike Conley on Grayson Allen and having Edwards guard Brad Beal.
Durant had a great Game 1, finishing with 31 points on 11-for-17 shooting. But no one else for the Suns particularly shined. Durant’s production largely came in isolation on mid-range jumpers. The Suns had nowhere near the free-flowing offense they showed in the regular season that the Timberwolves struggled to defend.
Towns’ length didn’t overly bother Durant. But putting the big man on Durant meant he wasn’t chasing Grayson Allen. That job instead went to Conley, who’s much better suited for the role. As a result, Allen didn’t hit a field goal Saturday.
In the past, Conley guarded Brad Beal, who’s a bit too big and physical for him. On Saturday, Edwards, who previously guarded Durant, instead guarded Beal and had more success.
“We just battled them. Booker is so dangerous with the ball, Jaden (McDaniels) just fights through everything. Keeps fighting, keeps fighting,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said. “The ball didn’t seem to find Allen as much, which was helpful. Mike is very good in those off-ball roles, but yeah, I think the ball went to KD a lot too, and you got to pick your poison with these guys. They’re really tough.”
“They were trying to avoid mismatches with Conley as much as possible and just keep size on size, or just bigger defenders on us three, and they did a good job of doing that,” Beal said. “We have to be a lot a better.”
— Having center Rudy Gobert play at the level: Gobert’s signature pick-and-roll coverage has always been drop, where once the screen is set, the big man retreats back toward the rim to take away the ball handler’s driving lane. The problem with that look against a team like Phoenix is Booker and Beal, the team’s primary ball handlers, are so adept at hitting open mid-range shots. So, on Saturday, Gobert stayed up closer to the level of the screener to take any air away from Booker or Beal until the original defender could recover.
“I think if you date back to those three (regular-season) games, that’s what hurt us. And today Rudy made that adjustment because he knew what mattered. But also we all came together and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have to do some uncomfortable things in order to get this win,’ ” Alexander-Walker said. “Guys gotta figure it out. And again, credit to Rudy, credit to everybody who took that week seriously and tried to prepare for today and the outcome of the game.”
Gobert even occasionally switched on screens. That set him up against Durant a few times, most notably late in the fourth quarter, when he poked the ball away from the Suns’ star forward, leading to an Edwards steal and dunk.
“Rudy is a really good defender at all levels. He gets down. He’s big. He can move well. Cares, takes it personally, and it’s something that we’ve done before,” FInch said. “When you get to this moment, there’s nothing to rest him or keep him fresh for. Play him more minutes. You can employ him in different ways. Feeds off wanting that challenge, too.”
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