Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves reconnect in Miami to halt slide and restore belief
MIAMI — It felt like Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves were teetering when they arrived in Miami. Just two days earlier, in Edwards’ hometown of Atlanta, they had delivered a performance so lackluster that he walked off the court before the fourth quarter was even half over.
A move like that from the face of the franchise can be cause for great concern in the drama-soaked NBA, and Wolves coach Chris Finch spoke of his team needing to reconnect after an ugly stretch of three losses in four games.
“Everyone’s concerned about maybe what’s going on in their individual game,” Finch said before a 125-115 victory over the Heat on Saturday. “We’ve got to shed that. Everybody goes through these patches during the season. Before that, we won 10 of 13. The great thing about our league is you always have a chance to go out and play your best basketball.”
As the Wolves often do when things start to look bleak, they pulled themselves together and responded with an impressive performance led by their biggest star. Edwards scored 33 points and dished out five assists as the Timberwolves (22-13) snapped the Heat’s four-game winning streak, which included back-to-back wins over the Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons.
After the game, Edwards downplayed his decision to walk off the court early against the Hawks.
“Nothing. Nothing,” Edwards told reporters in Miami. “Ain’t no frustration. Just walked off.”
As much as he wanted to move past it Saturday, those around him knew that he was upset with how things had played out recently. The loss to the Hawks was the team’s most disappointing effort of the season, lacking any spirit or energy. The Wolves were not much better in a home defeat to the Brooklyn Nets last weekend.
“We’ve got to get that connectivity back in our lineup,” Finch said.
That Edwards showed frustration in Wednesday’s game against the Hawks was nothing new. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, will bark at officials when he feels they missed a call and grit his teeth in moments of defeat. It also was not the first time he chose not to speak to the media after a game. There have been a number of occasions when he has left without doing interviews, often because he doesn’t want to say something inflammatory, preferring extra time to watch film, talk to coaches and teammates and then process what happened.
But without speaking after that loss to the Hawks, Edwards did something he has almost never done. He left his motives, for leaving the bench before the game was over, open to interpretation, implying that he was openly dissatisfied with his coaches and teammates. It looked, in the moment, like he was pointing the finger.
Edwards had 30 points and five rebounds in the game. The only other Wolves player who played outside of garbage time and scored in double figures was Julius Randle, who finished with 19 points but also played perhaps his worst defensive game of the season. After a lifeless home loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 27, that Hawks defeat was also the second time in three games that the Wolves fell flat against a sub-.500 team.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Edwards said after the loss to the Nets. “I guess this is just Timberwolves basketball.”
Edwards’ tone was not as ominous as that quote may read on paper, but it was indicative of an exasperation that he has rarely exhibited. Even after the Wolves were soundly beaten by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals last season, he remained upbeat and confident that he and the team would break through one day, likely sooner than later.
Before Saturday’s road game against the Heat, Finch said that they had to get Donte DiVincenzo and Jaden McDaniels back in rhythm to help balance things out and take some of the scoring pressure off of Randle and Edwards.
“Right now, we’re not really all connected,” Finch said.
One of Edwards’ most redeeming qualities since he has been in a Timberwolves jersey is the way he deflects praise toward his teammates and takes accountability when things are going wrong. He is often resistant to the panic that can set in from the fan base after a rough patch in a long regular season. He doesn’t hyperventilate when the hot takes start flying, typically letting a disappointing loss roll off his back while promising to be better the next time. And he almost always delivers.
He entered Saturday’s game against the Heat averaging career highs in points per game (29.1), field goal percentage (49.9) and 3-point percentage (39.6). Without a natural point guard in the starting lineup, he is taking on a greater role as the lead decision-maker on the offense. His 2.8 turnovers per game are his fewest since his second season.
He is still only 24 years old, but this is Year 6 for him. He knows that leaving the bench during the game was a selfish act from someone who has been unselfish throughout his career. This was more akin to the volatility of Draymond Green than the unity that has been Edwards’ hallmark.
Finch said before the Heat game that he spoke to Edwards right after the loss to the Hawks about the situation.
“It comes out of frustration, no doubt about it,” Finch said Saturday. “It wasn’t a great performance by any of us, certainly unacceptable and not what we want. It’s been addressed.”
The Wolves were much sharper against Miami, and Edwards had a lot more help. Naz Reid scored 29 points, Randle had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Rudy Gobert had 13 points and 12 boards and DiVincenzo had 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists. That’s the kind of balance Finch was looking for, and the kind of performance that Edwards knows his teammates are capable of.
“I mean, I feel like we can beat everybody,” Edwards said. “But if we play to a certain level, yeah, I feel like we can beat everyone. Sometimes, we play to that level. Sometimes, we don’t. If we play to this level right here — Naz [Reid] plays how he played, Jaden, Donte, Bones [Hyland] — I feel we can hang with the best of them.”
The trade deadline is a little over a month away. Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has been one of the league’s most aggressive front-office leaders since arriving in Minnesota in 2022.
The Wolves have needs at point guard, bench scoring and rim protection behind Gobert. Terrence Shannon Jr.’s foot injury, Rob Dillingham’s stagnation and Mike Conley’s age have zapped the team of much of its depth.
The Wolves are only one game out of third place in the Western Conference and also only 1.5 games ahead of seventh-seeded Phoenix, the highest Play-In Tournament seed.
Whether or not they make any moves, most of their hopes hinge on Edwards’ ability to find the answers for what is being thrown at him. He has cemented himself as one of the premier players in the league, is steamrolling toward his fourth All-Star berth and hasn’t missed the playoffs since his rookie season in 2020-21. He doesn’t plan on that streak ending this season.
Saturday’s win over Miami marked a sound example of what it will take for Minnesota to not only chase another playoff berth, but also eye contention in the demanding West. Edwards lauded the Timberwolves’ upside when they play together and focus on defense, especially because, as he explained, one can’t control when their shots go down. But the second-year iteration of this core is one he believes can play with high upside when teammates are active on the court and happy for one another’s success.
Finch has faced criticism for the inconsistent effort, but DiVincenzo and Edwards have both said that the responsibility lies on their shoulders.
“Most of the time, we just don’t listen to the game plan,” Edwards said. “When we listen to it and execute it, we’re pretty good.”
When asked why that doesn’t happen all the time, he said, “I don’t know. We’re hard-headed. we want to make the game harder. We listened tonight, and it worked out.”
Edwards didn’t attribute him prematurely leaving Wednesday’s game against the Hawks to anything more than walking off — but he was honest about the ways Finch keeps the Timberwolves aligned even during the lulls of a long regular season, especially when trying to keep their eyes on the bigger picture. The two have been together for 5 1/2 seasons, through plenty of ups and downs. The faith remains, but they both know that they have to make performances like Saturday more of the norm.
“He holds us accountable. Every last one of us,” Edwards said. “I think, in a league full of grown men, I think that’s what you need.”
