Minnesota crushes sinking Warriors without Stephen Curry

Before Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves won what he described as "the most important game of our careers" by defeating the Golden State Warriors 117-93 on Thursday, leveling the Western Semifinals at 1-1, his left ankle gave the team's fans the biggest scare of the season.

Edwards, who was already dealing with discomfort from an ankle injury suffered in the fourth game of the first round against the Lakers, had to leave the game midway through the second quarter after a setback. Warriors’ center, Trayce Jackson-Davis, accidentally landed on his ankle after blocking his attempt to drive to the basket with 6:03 left in the second quarter.

While the play continued on the other half of the court, Edwards remained sprawled on the floor. Center Rudy Gobert committed a foul on Jimmy Butler to stop the game, and the Timberwolves called a timeout with 5:56 remaining and a 37-19 lead.

Jaden McDaniels replaced Edwards, who headed to the locker room through the tunnel opposite Minnesota's bench, assisted by the team's medical staff. Coach Chris Finch admitted after the game that he feared the worst: "Honestly, I thought we wouldn’t see him play again tonight."

Despite their star's temporary absence, Minnesota maintained control of the game, and the Warriors only managed to reduce the deficit from 18 to 17 points at halftime, thanks to nine points from Julius Randle in the second quarter.

In the locker room, Edwards was attended to by David Hines, the team's Vice President of Medical Operations, who conducted various tests on the ankle. Despite ongoing treatment since the series against the Lakers, the player showed improvement after the initial movements. “When we got to the third movement I thought, ‘It's starting to feel good. If we tape it, I’ll try to see how it responds,’” explained Edwards, who thanked Hines for his work.

At 23 years old, Edwards returned to the court and improved his performance after the injury: he scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half, with an efficiency of 4-of-6 shooting, in addition to grabbing five rebounds, dishing out five assists, stealing three balls, and blocking a shot. He ended the game with the team's best plus-minus (+21) in 34 minutes, receiving unanimous praise for his effort.

"My boy has an immortal ankle," joked Josh Minott as Edwards began his post-game interview. Julius Randle also praised him: “He's one of the most resilient people I know. He never misses a game. With everything the opponents do to stop him, he's always there. He's like Ironman… or better yet, like Wolverine. He gets hurt, disappears for a while, and then comes back to play like nothing happened. That's what he does,” said Randle.

The praises became almost legendary as Edwards added another chapter to his budding legacy, helping the Timberwolves avoid a 0-2 deficit against a more experienced team like Golden State. “He always finds a way,” stated Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who contributed 20 points off the bench. “If Ant doesn’t play, it’s because he’s almost dead.” McDaniels put it more bluntly: “They’d have to chop his leg off for him to leave the game.”

However, Edwards was self-critical and recalled a play in the third quarter where he should have dunked an alley-oop from Randle but could only lay it in as he didn’t jump high enough. He also reproached himself for his lack of accuracy near the basket, having made 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and only 4 of 9 on two-point shots.

“I’m getting to the rim and not finishing. It’s odd. I need to work on my drives again and stop focusing so much on the three, because they aren’t even letting me shoot them,” he acknowledged.

Edwards assured he would be in the third game of the series, to be played on Saturday in San Francisco, with the chance to take the lead against a Warriors team without Stephen Curry, who is out with a left hamstring injury. “That twist was crazy,” he said. “But I'll be fine.”

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Minnesota aplasta a unos Warriors que se hunden sin Stephen Curry