Despite being the No. 6 seed and underdogs entering their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves proved the NBA world wrong once again.
Edwards and the team ultimately came out on top, defeating and eliminating the Lakers in five games.
In a recent episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast, which features LeBron James and Steve Nash, James gave his thoughts on Edwards and the young superstar’s quick growth as a player.
James, who has now played 22 seasons in the league, showed nothing but respect for Edwards after being eliminated by him.
“Now I see Ant taking that next step. It’s a proud feeling for me as a player who has been in the league for so long,” James said. “He’s improved so much with his playmaking, and you’ve seen him make the jump just from last year’s playoff run to this one.”
Through their first round matchup, Edwards averaged 26.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game on 42/33/78 shooting splits. While he was not as efficient as he had proven to be, Edwards’ improved playmaking became crucial for the Timberwolves.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick and his team’s defensive game plan on Edwards was to double-team him, blitz him, and make him as uncomfortable as possible while forcing his teammates to make big shots. However, Edwards quickly figured that out as he began making quicker reads, leading to more open and efficient looks.
“I commend him, he just grew throughout our series. That I think is gonna benefit him throughout the rest of this (postseason) run,” James added.
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Edwards continues to improve and has quickly established himself as one of the most electrifying young players in all of basketball.
As the Timberwolves attempt to make a second-straight conference finals appearance for the first time in team history, they will need to get through the Golden State Warriors to do so.
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