Anthony Edwards supplies everywhere except in coupling time for Timberwolves

On By Littum

When Anthony Edwards have the ball in his hands and a chance to tie or take the lead in the closing moments, it is farthest from his mind to lack the shot. It doesn’t matter if he has hit everything in sight in the protocol up to it or has not done anything.

Once he gets his hands on the ball, it goes up no matter what. The idea of ​​failure never arises for him, no matter how often he has done just that. So when his Minnesota Timberwolves were down with two with 10 seconds to play against Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, Edwards had already composed his mind before the ball even became in -depth to him.

He defined the court, saw Bucks Guard Kevin Porter Jr. In front of him and licked his chops.

At that moment he was 10 out of 32 from the field and 4 out of 16 from 3-point reach, a vicious shooting night that came on the heels of an exquisite race of three straight matches of 40 or more points. He was considering going to the edge to get a potential game bonding shot, but Bucks Center Brook Lopez was there to avert the drive. He put porter on skates and came to his favorite drag-step-back 3-close top of the arch. He let it fly and it hit the front of the edge.

“I thought it went in,” Edwards said.

It didn’t, and Timberwolves lost 103-101. It was another in a host of bad home loss for them this season. Bucks were without wounded stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. The wolves have also lost to Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler, Sacramento Kings without De’Aaron Fox and Washington Wizards, who were without victory in the previous 16 games before beating Minnesota.

Losses like these crushed the momentum that the wolves seemed to have built.

On Saturday, they had a lively victory over the formerly undulating Portland Trail Blazers, overcoming the absence of Edwards, Mike Conley, Julius Randle and Divincenzo to win their third straight match and move to sixth place in the western conference. They followed it by starting Monday’s game in Cleveland by missing out on their first 16 shots and then shot 38 percent off the field and 22 percent from 3 in the loss to Bucks.

“A tough one,” said Rudy Gobert, who had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. “I’m going home and I’m mad. It’s a two-point game and there are so many plays so many shots, so many plays that we only needed one of them to win the game. “

All Misses Wednesday night did not even sign up for Edwards in the closed seconds because of all the shots he has made this season. He has made more 3s this season than any other player, a truly remarkable achievement for a player who heard so much doubt about his shooting before he became draft.

Edwards are proud of the work he has put on to become one of the best 3-point shooters in the game. He has made 28 more 3-pointers than Steph Curry this season. The NBA asked him to participate in the 3-point competition in All-Star Weekend, but he rejected. It has turned into an incredible weapon for him, except at the end of games.

Edwards have been one of the most productive scorers that the league has ever seen through its first four and a half season. His young career is full of highlighting wheels, euro steps through several defenders and more 3-Pointers before his 24th birthday than anyone plays in the NBA story. Fewer and longer in between is one of the signature playbacks in sports: the last second shot.

Edwards are 3 of 11 this season when Timberwolves draw by three points or fewer or tied in the last minute of games. After the game, a poster on X postponed a collection of every shot he has ever taken with a chance to tie the game or take the lead by 24 seconds or less in the fourth quarter or overtime. He is 2 of 21.

The numbers do not fall Edwards. Each miss of him is a fluke or a statistically improbability in his mind because he is so sure of himself.

“Whenever the ball leaves my hand, if I can see the edge, I think it’s going in,” Edwards said. “So I live with everything that happened tonight.”

There was not an ounce of regret in his voice. He didn’t want him to go to the edge because he saw Lopez there and knew it would be a tough shot. He didn’t think about pulling up to a midrange jumper because he did it on the previous possession, and it went in and out too. He shoots a career high 42 percent from 3 this season. So all the misses that came earlier in the game just meant he had to make one.

“I just got so much belief in it,” Edwards said, watching the reporter in the eye who asked him about it. “Like you know when you’re working on something like you’re working on writing reports or something, do you know what I’m saying? This is how I feel about my trey ball. This is how I feel about every time I shoot the ball. “

The loss to Milwaukee was Wolves’ League leader 19. In coupling time, defined as a game within five points in the last five minutes. Edwards, of course, appear prominent in the deficit. He has a 38.1 percent usage rate in coupling time, but all his shooting numbers that have been so impressive this season, the plum in these moments.

He shoots 45 percent off the field this season, a number weighed down by evil numbers at the edge (65 percent), inside 10 feet (43 percent) and less than 33 percent shooting from midrange. But he shoots only 41.8 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3 in the coupling time.

Despite these matches, coach Chris Finch had no problems with Edwards’ choice of shots at that moment. Finch had two timeouts, but decided not to call one after Lopez’s free throw set up Bucks with two. Finch didn’t want to give Bucks Coach Doc Rivers a chance to get a more defensive-minded lineup on the floor. So he let Edwards take control and said he was happy with the final possession.

“It’s kind of his shot,” Finch said.

Other factors played into his decision. Randle (Adductor), Divincenzo (toe) and Conley (Finger) were all out of the lineup. Conley’s absence was great because there was no other player on the floor that was able to lead the traffic, as Conley does, which was part of the calculation in Finch that decided not to call timeout. Without a real quarterback on the field, the ball always just went straight to Edwards anyway.

“I missed a lot of layups tonight. I missed a lot of everything, ”Edwards said. “Layups, Middies, I have to get them to try to get my trey ball going when it doesn’t fall.”

Most of the other Timberwolves also struggled to shoot the ball. Naz Reid was 1 out of 7 from 3, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was 1 out of 5 and Jaylen Clark and Rob Dillingham combined to shoot 1 out of 11 from the bench.

Reid ended with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Terrence Shannon Jr. Had his best game as a pro with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.

One night when almost no one could find their shooting touch, it was best to go to the one player that Finch knew would not let all of these previously miss bother him.

It is the mentality required by an alpha scorer. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, all greatnesses are honored for their fearlessness in the great moment, no matter what has happened. Edwards have the same supreme belief in his abilities.

Maybe the right game was to go in the basket. Maybe he could have got from Lopez and got a clean look at the edge. But Edwards didn’t think about it after the game. He also did not think of any of his other misses for great moments. He was already looking forward to taking the next one.

“It will go in. It just didn’t go in tonight, ”Edwards said. “We are doing well.”

(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)