MINNEAPOLIS — As the target center throbbed, Anthony Edwards decided to take the temperature of his shooting streak.
The dynamic young superstar of the Minnesota Timberwolves leapt with confidence and buried a string of jumpers already, becoming more animated after each extended the score. Then, with 48 seconds left in the game-defining third quarter, Edwards drifted to the left wing and scored.
Kevin Durant's infinite wingspan touched down late in the close-out and Edwards' 3-pointer danced through the net, unleashing a deafening roar from the sellout crowd.
The Timberwolves' lead was extended to 16, and Edwards, 22, celebrated by shaking his head, slapping his chest with one hand and calling out to the 35-year-old Durant, who shook his head and smiled. The moment electrified the sellout crowd, but it still felt like it had some historic appeal — the future heralding its arrival, perhaps.
« I think everybody here knows this is my favorite player of all time, » Edwards said after scoring a game-high 33 points in the Timberwolves' 120-95 Game 1 win against the Suns.
The Timberwolves' 25-point victory marked their second-biggest victory in postseason history behind the Lakers' 28-point loss on April 22, 2003, according to ESPN Stats and Information Research. And Edwards was the catalyst. The former No. 1 pick had nine rebounds, six assists and added another notch to his growing legend.
Dating back to last season, Saturday proved to be his fifth straight playoff game with 25 or more points — the longest such streak in team history. Edwards' sixth playoff game with 30 or more points tied him behind Timberwolves great Kevin Garnett for the most games in franchise history.
But Edwards' biggest impact came in the third quarter, when he scored 18 points — tied with Sam Cassel for the most in a quarter in Timberwolves playoff history — and made more field goals (8) than the Suns did (6). Team.
At the end of that quarter, the Timberwolves led by as many as 20 — the second time in franchise history they've led by four in a postseason contest. The fourth quarter is often garbage time.
Game 2 of the series is Tuesday as the Timberwolves try to escape the first round of the postseason for the first time since 2004. Durant, a 14-time All-Star in his first full season in Phoenix, led the Suns with 31 points. . Based on his exchange with Edwards he acknowledged the obvious: « He did it, he made some tough ones. »
But Edwards, a two-time All-Star, had considerable praise for Durant.
« Did you see him in the third quarter? » Edwards mentioned Durant. « I felt like we should have been up 15, 18 early in the third quarter. And, if I'm not mistaken, he made four or five straight buckets for nothing. And I became a fan at one point. I was out there like, 'Oh my God, he's good.' There is nothing we can do. [Karl-Anthony Towns] Played great defense. Rudy [Gobert] Played great defense.
“I look at the stat sheet and he's 11-for-17 [from the field]. He missed six shots and scored 31. I mean, he's the best at it. A big tip of my hat to him, he's great. »
In fact, Durant made four jumpers early in the third quarter, but he ultimately took just five shots in the second half. Booker finished with 18 points on 16 shots, but he finished just 1-of-7 from the field when guarded by Timberwolves defensive specialist Jaden McDaniels. Beal scored 15 points on 10 shots.
« It was probably their best game we've seen, » Beal said. « With all due respect, it's a game. »
The win gave Minnesota a facelift, having lost all three regular season contests to the Suns by double digits.
The most recent loss came on Sunday, when the Timberwolves fell by a nearly identical score — 125-106 — to what they posted Saturday.
« These guys came in here and beat us on our home field in the last game of the season, laughing and laughing, » Edwards recalled. « [Suns guard Bradley] Beal told our coach he didn't think we were playing hard — and he was right. [Timberwolves head coach Chris] Finch didn't like that. He came in the next day and was like, 'Man, you've got guys on the other team telling me not to play hard enough for me.' And he is absolutely right.
« We are [were] They just run there without letting them do what they want to do. It's a great team. Those three guys, they're great players, man. They will be tough to beat. »
For the Timberwolves, Edwards starred, but the team got well-rounded efforts from Towns (19 points, 7 rebounds), Gobert (14 points, 16 rebounds) and the bench, with Nikhil Alexander-Walker adding 18 points and Naz Reed 12 points. .
Most impressively, the Timberwolves held decisive edges in rebounds (52 to 28), paint points (52 to 34) and second-chance points (20 to 6).
« Our focus and our urgency is obviously at an all-time high, » Gobert said. « I like how we respected the game plan all 48 minutes from start to finish. We tried not to let them get off to a hot start like they did the other three games and do what we did. »
