Anthony Edwards may just have given Luka Donsic all the extra motivations he needs for the rest of the series.
Or perhaps the Timberwolves star produced a lasting image of an opening round showdown with the Lakers, leaving his name in conversations about the league’s top players, pouring 37 points on Saturday, not casting shadows on everything that did everything that could carry the Lakers.
Early in the fourth quarter, Edwards connected via Don Sic with a 3-pointer, giving the Timberwolves a 16-point lead, and after a pause he stretched out his arms at the celebration, staring at Don Sic with close-ups, and shuffled his path back to the court.
Edwards, who earned 22 points in Minnesota’s 117-95 victory in Game 1, helped the Timberwolves build a lead that would be as big as 27 points, and although Don Chick poured 16 points in the opening quarter, they still cruised.
“I got a great group,” Edwards told reporters after the game. “But it wasn’t tonight. We learned that at training camp. It takes a minute to gel as a new team. It took us a minute to understand each other.
Minnesota joined the series with the Lakers as they traded star Karl Anthony Towns for the Knicks after reaching the Western Conference Finals last season.
This led the 26-year-old to pair with LeBron James and transformed the Lakers into a serious contender under freshman head coach JJ Redick. Los Angeles finished 18 regular season games at .500 and took the third seed in the Western Conference.
Still, the Timberwolves announced their challenge with the former No. 1 overall pick, Edwards, who averaged 27.6 points per game during the regular season.
He connected with four of Minnesota’s 21 3-pointers that hit Saturday, and announced nine assists, ensuring their commanders remained undisappeared in the final quarter of the game.
And during that stretch, after three people in front of Don Sic after first handing the shot, Edwards may have produced a provocation that could shape the rest of the series.
