{"id":1894910,"date":"2026-04-21T17:08:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1894910"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:08:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:08:49","slug":"the-spirit-of-anthony-edwards-lifts-the-timberwolves-from-flawed-to-formidable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1894910","title":{"rendered":"The spirit of Anthony Edwards lifts the Timberwolves from flawed to formidable"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DENVER \u2014 Anthony Edwards didn\u2019t like what he saw in his box score. It showed 30 points and 10 rebounds, but he still compared it to an excremental chute. Even through his pitch-black sunglasses, wide as a visor, he could see his 15 missed shots, including eight bricked 3s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be better,\u201d he said with his trademark certainty.<\/p>\n

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But his stats aren\u2019t the reason Minnesota put the fear of an upset into a championship contender Monday. Not the reason the Timberwolves walked down the Denver Nuggets like a villain in a horror flick.<\/p>\n

The Game 2 that Minnesota stole, coming back from a 19-point deficit, can directly be attributed to the spirit of Ant. A flex of his galvanizing powers. Behind that unfiltered, decidedly urban Southern charm lies a resilience that compels following. An inspirational recklessness.<\/p>\n

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Edwards doesn\u2019t have the size of Nikola Joki\u0107. He can\u2019t tower over his defenders and read the defense like a chalkboard. Or turn his back to the basket and crash his way to the rim. However, again, in this clash between modern superstars, Edwards looms as large as the consensus best player in the world.<\/p>\n

His will is 7-foot. The dawg in him weighs 290 pounds.<\/p>\n

And it just changed this Western Conference first-round series.<\/p>\n

Three minutes into the game, Edwards collided with Joki\u0107 and seemed to tweak his ailing right knee. After platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, fluid drains, rest and constant treatment, his runner\u2019s knee is still causing him pain and limiting his explosiveness. But also summoning his resolve.<\/p>\n

He grimaced. He limped. He rubbed it. And kept going.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely uplifts me,\u201d Julius Randle said. \u201cI feel like I can\u2019t let him down. He\u2019s out there battling, and there\u2019s no excuse why I can\u2019t give my best and make the extra-effort plays and just go out there and compete at the highest level. It definitely energizes me, and it makes me want to give my best effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps nothing illustrates Edwards\u2019 approach better than his thirst for blocking shots.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeatin\u2019 s\u2014,\u201d he called it \u2014 vernacular befitting of that unfiltered charm.<\/p>\n

Even with his knee condition, he can\u2019t resist rocket-launching into the air like an outside hitter hunting for a spike. He\u2019s not dunking. He\u2019s being measured about when and where he exerts his surreal athleticism.<\/p>\n

It all goes away when someone\u2019s trying to convert a layup in his presence.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI just be watching Dwyane Wade clips,\u201d Edwards explained. \u201cHe was beatin\u2019 s\u2014 at the rim. So I just be trying to beat s\u2014 at the rim. That\u2019s all. People come to the rim, and if Rudy ain\u2019t down there, I\u2019m trying to beat that s\u2014. I don\u2019t care who it is. So, if you come down there and you see (No. 5) down there, I\u2019m going up. I don\u2019t give a damn.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Anthony<\/p>\n
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\n Anthony Edwards played through a lingering knee injury. \u201cHe\u2019s out there battling, and there\u2019s no excuse why I can\u2019t give my best,\u201d teammate Julius Randle said. (Matthew Stockman \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Denver knows this bent. They\u2019ve felt the pressure of an Edwards-led team. Monday\u2019s come-from-behind win was the Wolves franchise\u2019s largest since they came back from 20 against these Nuggets in Game 7 of their second-round series in 2024.<\/p>\n

Game 1 tricked most into thinking this would be an easy series for Denver. The Nuggets are the better team. They have the best player. And they won Game 1 without even playing that well<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, Ant\u2019s built for struggle. He\u2019s so good at getting downhill because he\u2019s no stranger to uphill battles. He\u2019s been through enough, seen enough, to find peace in difficulty. And will covers a multitude of weaknesses. This flawed team compensates with fight.<\/p>\n

So when the Timberwolves got down big in the first quarter, which included three four-point plays by Denver, his stratospheric confidence took over. They watched him take on double-teams with a compromised wheel. Then they heard his uplifting voice in the huddle when they were most vulnerable. They heard his confidence when he declared their run was coming. They felt his conviction when he wanted to see how they responded to Denver\u2019s punch in the mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just gotta read the game,\u201d he said. \u201cKnowing in the moments when to be positive and when to challenge people. It\u2019s knowing when to uplift your teammates and when to get on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Game 2 wasn\u2019t about efficiency or aesthetics. It was about presence. His limp, his wince, the times he bent at the waist to subdue his discomfort, contrasted with his aggressive drives to the basket. With his scrambling over pick-and-rolls. With his soaring for rebounds. And blocks.<\/p>\n

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That stuff resonates in a way that spurs underdogs. It hit his teammates in the chest. It told them the night, the series, wasn\u2019t slipping away. It was understood because it\u2019s become their postseason ethos. The Timberwolves have made a tradition of acquitting themselves in the playoffs following underwhelming regular seasons. They become a team guaranteed to extract its pound of flesh. On Monday, again, Minnesota leans into the spirit of Ant.<\/p>\n

It lit a fire in Randle. His 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists were a product of a much more aggressive performance than in Game 1. The Nuggets are blatantly doubling Edwards, and Minnesota needs Randle to punish that approach.<\/p>\n

It channeled Rudy Gobert into one of his greatest defensive performances, holding Joki\u0107 to 1-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

It turned up a kindred spirit in Donte DiVincenzo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we mesh so well,\u201d DiVincenzo said after finishing a game-high plus-20.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Wolves\u2019<\/p>\n
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\n Wolves\u2019 Rudy Gobert stands taller than ever in Game 2 showdown with Nikola Joki\u0107\n <\/div>\n
\n Gobert knows how many NBA fans belittle him. But the Minnesota center proved his value in bottling up Joki\u0107 in the fourth quarter.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The spirit of Ant gives Jaden McDaniels unspoken permission to be unabashed in his beliefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo at Joki\u0107, Jamal \u2014 all the bad defenders,\u201d McDaniels said of his team\u2019s offensive strategy. \u201cTim Hardaway. Cam Johnson. Aaron Gordon. The whole team. Just go at them. They\u2019re all bad defenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t got people that can defend the rim,\u201d he continued, \u201cand if (Joki\u0107) is there, we\u2019re still more athletic than him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, any team led by Edwards will not be afraid to talk. They don\u2019t worry about repercussions. They aren\u2019t deterred by doubt.<\/p>\n

These Timberwolves aren\u2019t elite. But if it\u2019s a battle, they\u2019re willing. If it\u2019s about heart, they\u2019re formidable. Like their leader, they\u2019re reckless, magnetically unrefined and absolutely beat s\u2014, in the spirit of Ant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DENVER \u2014 Anthony Edwards didn\u2019t like what he saw in his box score. It showed 30 points and 10 rebounds, but he still compared it to an excremental chute. Even through his pitch-black sunglasses, wide as a visor, he could see his 15 missed shots, including eight bricked 3s. \u201cI\u2019ll be better,\u201d he said with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1894910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1894910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1894910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1894910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1894910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}