This week, we look at what we’ve learned about Anthony Edwards’ game (spoiler alert: it’s special) with Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined, how the Phoenix Suns might be running out of time and why the Houston Rockets would like your attention.
OK, the dunk. My god, the dunk. Edwards planted just inside the foul line. He didn’t quite leap over Utah Jazz forward John Collins, but if you freeze the dunk at the right moment, it doesn’t look too far from that.
It was an act of thunderous basketball violence that is still reverberating. Every time Edwards catches the ball with momentum, you sense some ineffable danger. The crowd murmurs with a strange mix of excitement and fear. Some opposing players between Edwards and the basket must feel some fear too. Imagine being one of Edwards’ teammates and sensing that — how it would embolden you.
Edwards has breathed fire into the Wolves in the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid.
Minnesota is 4-3 since losing Towns to a meniscus injury. One loss came in overtime. A second came down to the last shot against the Denver Nuggets, with Minnesota splitting center minutes between Kyle Anderson and Luka Garza. These Wolves have resourcefulness and steel to them.
They have wallopped teams by 14 points per 100 possessions in about 550 minutes when Edwards and Gobert play and Towns sits. What was once a feature of their nightly rotation is now their template for survival.
With Towns sidelined, Edwards could have hoarded the offense — hunted the spectacular while rationalizing that his team needed him to shoot more. Instead, he has put forth some of the cleanest passing of his career.
Take this three-possession sequence against the Jazz on Monday — three consecutive pick-and-rolls with Garza on the left side:
Walker Kessler leaves Garza to corral Edwards in the paint; Edwards reads that and hooks a pass back to Garza after two dribbles.
Having seen Utah’s coverage once, Edwards is confident he can rock Kessler backward, split defenders and plow forward.
Kessler ventures out higher; Edwards accelerates around him, draws an extra layer of defense and waits for cutters.
That’s the same play three times in 60 seconds, with Edwards making three different reads and producing three different results — all profitable.
Advanced playmaking need not be fancy — not when you can score like Edwards, and draw so much attention.
When Edwards makes the simple pass, Minnesota’s offense hums. Everyone is involved. The ball often makes its way back to Edwards, who can then attack a backpedaling defense in flux.
Edwards is doing this more, seeing it result in wins and high-scoring totals for him. The feedback cycle is flowing.
The Wolves need Towns to make a deep playoff run. His shooting is oxygen. He raises their ceiling where it needs to be to win two or more rounds. Any Finals team needs a few easy wins along the postseason road — games in which you take luck out of the equation. A hot shooting game from Towns combined with Minnesota’s relentless defense is their most reasonable blowout path.
Imagine some of those swing-swing sequences Edwards is triggering more ending in Towns 3s or Gobert dunks. Maybe Edwards is imagining that too — or being pushed by his coaches to do so. Good teams learn about themselves when they are short-handed. The Wolves are learning more about Edwards every game, and what they see is special.
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