MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� The ball left Anthony Edwards' right hand and bounced off the back rim at the buzzer, sending him sprinting off the court in anger over his miss of a tying 3-point try for Minnesota that preserved a series-clinching Game 5 victory for eventual champion Denver.
have worked tirelessly since that moment to become more than a one-and-done team, and their measuring stick has arrived.
They'll return to the same arena where their season ended a year ago, in the second round this time, and face a raring to defend its title. Game 1 is Saturday.
If the Timberwolves knock down the Nuggets, it will likely be a product of Edwards' brilliance. His 31-point second half last week that propelled them to a at Phoenix was his latest masterpiece, not simply as a scorer, but as a passer, a defender and a leader.
鈥淭he second half, it鈥檚 time to win,鈥� Edwards said after posting his second career 40-point game in the playoffs among the four in franchise history. 鈥淚've got to shoot my shots and keep confidence in myself.鈥�
The elevation of Edwards' stature has been occurring as quickly as any other player in the NBA, as evidenced in most commercial breaks during the playoffs when the 22-year-old appears in back-to-back ads for Bose and Sprite.
The league that Edwards had generated more than 100 million video views across its social and digital platforms, behind only LeBron James (130 million), and gained the most Instagram followers by any player since the postseason began. Edwards will also be one of the leaders for at the Paris Olympics this summer.
But he's the last player the Timberwolves would worry about being waylaid by such surging fame.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 like to call him 鈥榦ld soul,鈥欌�� assistant coach Micah Nori said, 鈥渂ut he鈥檚 been through a lot in his life. He鈥檚 been around a lot of situations. He鈥檚 grown up quickly.鈥�
Few star players can entrench themselves in the desirable middle between destructive arrogance and detrimental deference the way Edwards has, delivering in clutch situations with supreme belief in his ability yet constantly pivoting to praise a teammates or a coach when his success is publicly broached.
鈥淓verybody in here has been a part of his growth and his development,鈥� point guard Mike Conley said. 鈥淲hen we鈥檙e in film sessions, we鈥檙e constantly in each other鈥檚 ear. If he鈥檚 about to explode about Coach saying something bad to him, I鈥檒l tap him on the shoulder and be like, 鈥楴o, chill. You need to hear this. This is real. He鈥檚 being honest with this one, and you need to work on it.鈥� And he鈥檒l be like, 鈥楤et.鈥� Just kind of really receptive to stuff.鈥�
That has taken some time.
Edwards was fined $40,000 by the league before the 2022-23 season began for he made in a social media post.
During his frustrated hustle off the court after the , he chucked a chair that was in his way 鈥� prompting later-dismissed misdemeanor assault charges by two bystanders who claimed injury and, ultimately, a $50,000 fine from the NBA.
Inside team headquarters, the first overall pick in the 2020 draft was slow to mesh with coach Chris Finch after he was hired midway through Edwards' rookie season. The two-time All-Star said recently their relationship was initially 鈥渦p and down鈥� because of how often Finch was telling him what not to do with the ball in his hand.
鈥淲hen you tell me something works and I鈥檒l try it and it works, I can鈥檛 fight you,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淪o pretty much, he just told me, like, 鈥楾hese are the spots. This is what we need you to do in order for us to win at a high level.鈥� Ever since then, probably the end of my second year, going into those playoffs, we gained each other鈥檚 trust. We took off ever since then.鈥�
Now, Edwards is far more inclined to make the "right play,鈥� as Nori put it, in the face of frequent double-teams.
鈥淗e just has a focused mentality on the game of basketball,鈥� teammate Karl-Anthony Towns said. "All of us, we鈥檙e going to keep him accountable and focused. But for him personally, he鈥檚 already a step ahead."
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AP NBA:
Dave Campbell, The Associated Press
