Just two days after securing what Anthony Edwards called the most crucial win of his career, preventing a 2-0 deficit against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals, the Minnesota Timberwolves star found his team facing another tough challenge on the road for Game 3.
With “Playoff Jimmy” Butler fully embodying his primary scorer role from his Miami days, Edwards, the league`s fourth-leading scorer in the regular season, started slowly. Butler dominated the first half with 18 points, giving his team, playing without Stephen Curry, a two-point halftime advantage.
Edwards, in contrast, managed only eight points by halftime, shooting 3-for-12 from the field and just 1-for-6 on 3-pointers. The Timberwolves were outscored by 11 points during his 20 minutes on the court.
However, demonstrating his characteristic flair, the 23-year-old All-Star erupted in the second half. His exceptional skill and top-tier athleticism often leave even seasoned veterans like Wolves point guard Mike Conley in awe.
“There are moments where I go home and just sit there and think, `I could be, right now, in the middle of being a teammate of one of the best players who ever played this game,`” Conley shared with ESPN.
Edwards` impact went beyond scoring; his second-half performance showcased incredible style. His highlight reel served as a potent reminder of why the physically imposing 6-foot-4, 225-pound shooting guard is already drawing comparisons to Michael Jordan.
A standout play was his dunk late in the third quarter, with his team trailing by five. Launching from just inside the free-throw line, he finished with a powerful right-handed slam that left the Warriors` 6-9 power forward Kevon Looney like a flattened bug on a windshield.
Another key moment was his 3-pointer early in the fourth, with the team down six. Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski denied him space, so Edwards expertly created it with a step-back, reaching the peak of his leap before draining the shot.
Yet, perhaps his most critical contribution was a play without a personal scoring statistic.
On the left wing, Edwards was triple-teamed by Butler, Looney, and Podziemski. Given his scoring rhythm, it would have surprised no one if he had attempted to shoot over them.
Instead, he passed to an open Julius Randle at the top of the key, who then swung the ball to the right wing for Jaden McDaniels to hit an uncontested 3-pointer, extending Minnesota`s lead to six with 3:20 left. Golden State never narrowed the gap to less than four points afterward.
Edwards received no official statistical credit for this sequence; Randle was credited with the assist. However, the play was a clear demonstration of Edwards` ongoing evolution as a versatile offensive threat. His improved decision-making has been pivotal in transforming the Wolves from one of the NBA`s weakest clutch-time teams to one of the most reliable.
Minnesota boasts a 4-0 record in clutch games this postseason, outscoring opponents 45-16 in those critical moments, according to ESPN Research.
Edwards himself has scored 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting in his 14 postseason clutch minutes, complemented by five assists and zero turnovers. He is the only player in the 2025 playoffs with that many assists without a turnover in clutch time.
“My trainer [Chris] Hines always tells me, `Michael Jordan had Steve Kerr,`” Edwards recounted to ESPN. “He always says things like that to me. It`s about being able to trust my teammates.”
Despite how effortless it may appear now, reaching this point has been a process spanning the entire season.
Five months earlier, Edwards entered the Chase Center for the second consecutive game against the Golden State Warriors. The Wolves lost 114-106, dropping their season record to 12-11, and Edwards played a significant role in the defeat.
After rallying his team in the third quarter with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:47 remaining in the fourth, he proceeded to shoot his team out of the game. In crunch time, he went 0-for-6 from the field and committed a turnover, as the Warriors finished on a 9-0 run.
The Wolves had witnessed this pattern before.
“In the final five minutes, he just wanted to score, score, score, because he wanted to prove to the Warriors he could beat them himself,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch told ESPN. “He came into the team meeting afterward and apologized. He said, `That`s on me.` He just stopped creating for everyone down the stretch.”
What frustrated Finch further was that only two days prior, the Wolves had decisively beaten the Warriors, with Edwards contributing 30 points and nine assists.
“He played an amazing game,” Finch recalled.
Hines remembers that loss vividly and the lessons it provided.
“He`s the kind of kid you tell not to eat chocolate, and he shows up with chocolate all over his face,” Hines told ESPN. “And you`re like, `Hey dude, did you just eat the chocolate?` He says, `No.` We just told you not to eat the chocolate! That`s just him.”
Yet, despite his glaringly poor late-game decision-making in that instance, his teammates remained supportive.
“That was part of our team`s growth,” Randle told ESPN. “And it wasn`t truly his fault. He was like, `Screw it, let me try to carry the team to a win.` He`s an ultimate competitor. But he was also able to recognize, `Hey, I need to be better.` That`s just Ant. He`s not afraid to accept blame, and obviously, he gets plenty of praise, but he constantly strives to improve.”
Hines understands that Edwards sees himself as an alpha competitor and is drawn to figures like Jordan and Kobe Bryant. However, Jordan`s six championships predated Edwards` birth, and he was two months old when Bryant won his second title. Hines is actively educating Edwards about their games beyond just the highlight dunks and game-winners commonly seen online.
“Jordan had Steve Kerr,” Hines reiterated. “He had [John] Paxson. LeBron [James] had Boobie Gibson at times. Guys who consistently made clutch shots. The [Robert] Horrys, and others throughout basketball history. If he doesn`t study that, he`ll keep hitting a wall.”
“So, it`s been a beneficial transition for him to see this. We`ll watch clips of Kobe passing to Rick Fox. Ant asks, `Who is Rick Fox?` He had no idea. But he sees Fox made the shot. He`s developing a good understanding of the game`s history and how it`s relevant to his own journey.”
Edwards admits he has struggled to move past his inherent hero-ball tendencies.
“In my first few playoff runs in the final moments, I always wanted to win the game by myself,” Edwards explained. “Because growing up, watching games, you always think, `Oh, they always make the big shots!` But sometimes, they make the extra pass, the right play.”
Despite his ambition to replicate the late-game heroics of Jordan and Bryant, Edwards` track record on tying or go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in his regular-season career is 0-for-15 (0-for-10 from 3-point range), according to ESPN Research. Including the playoffs, he stands at 1-for-18.
This season, Minnesota finished with a 20-26 record in close games, the second-highest number of clutch-time losses in the league. Edwards was a key factor, going 0-for-7 on tying or go-ahead attempts in those situations – the most such attempts without a make this season and tied for the most in the last five seasons.
Edwards` coaches and teammates emphasize that they aren`t trying to suppress his competitive drive; they want to add another dimension to his game while preparing him for the defensive schemes he`ll face.
He is actively learning.
“That`s the balance he`s been working on, because he`s naturally a go-go-go player,” Conley noted. “We constantly tell him we want him to be aggressive in scoring. Don`t think, `Oh, I need to get Mike the ball.` I think that`s when he sometimes slows down, thinking, `Okay, I just have to pass.` He becomes just a passer.”
“So, it`s about helping him understand: stay in attacking mode, be aggressive always, but while doing that, can you process information? Can you recognize when a defender comes over to help at the last second, and you know where your open teammate is? I believe he`s getting there.”
It`s not yet second nature. “Every three possessions, I`m going to shoot one out of three,” Edwards stated about his approach in the final moments.
He mentally cycles through options: pass, pass, shoot. Or shoot, pass, pass. Or pass, shoot, pass. He is also more motivated to pass because he has improved his catch-and-shoot game. He`s learning to *play* like the hypothetical Kerr, not just passing to him.
He developed his catch-and-shoot skills last summer while playing for coach Steve Kerr on the Olympic team, alongside stars like Curry, James, and his idol, Kevin Durant.
“KD told me that being able to catch and shoot the ball would be the biggest thing for me,” Edwards shared.
Sometimes, the messenger makes all the difference.
“We`ve been trying to get him to do that for years because his catch-and-shoot numbers were excellent,” Finch said. “He was a great catch-and-shoot shooter, but he was always used to his rhythm with the ball in his hands, creating his own shot off the dribble. So, even though he had great success with it, it felt a little uncomfortable for him.”
His success in Paris last summer, winning a gold medal, positively changed him, his teammates observe.
“He talks about Team USA more than anything else. And he talks a lot,” Conley remarked. “I think it opened up a whole new perspective for him.”
Simultaneously, it reinforced his self-belief. “[It] put him in a mindset of, `Look, they`re just like me. Actually, I`m better,` in his head,” Hines commented.
As his evolution continues, Edwards has the Wolves one win away from potentially their second consecutive conference finals appearance. He assisted Conley on a key 3-pointer late in Game 5 of the first round to close out the Lakers; yet, he also remains the player who scored 16 of his 30 points in the third quarter of Game 4 against the Warriors to give the Wolves a commanding 3-1 lead in the second round.
And the Timberwolves organization believes he is the player who can finally lead them to their first championship in the franchise`s 36-year history.
“I`ve played alongside many great players. His confidence and belief in himself are… Kobe-like. And I was around Kobe,” Randle told ESPN.
“He isn`t afraid of any moment and actively seeks those opportunities. His belief and confidence in his abilities as a player are the highest I`ve ever witnessed or been around, in anyone.”
As Edwards learns to trust his teammates more, they have committed to trusting him in return.
“We constantly emphasize to him: `Make the right play, make the right play,`” Finch shared. “One time, Ant said to me, `Maybe I am the right play.`”
“And he`s not wrong.”
