It was anticipated that rising star Anthony Edwards would take up a large portion of Karl-Anthony Towns’ offensive duties and the resulting defensive emphasis when the Minnesota Timberwolves moved Towns and his $220 million contract.
That hasn’t worked out thus far.
After finishing 56-26 and making it to the Western Conference finals, the Timberwolves’ record dropped to 17-16 on Thursday after losing 118-115 to the Boston Celtics. Edwards, who shot 5 of 16 for 15 points, six assists, and two turnovers, had a difficult game.
After the game, Edwards spoke extensively about the double teams he was up against. Edwards stated that he was not interested in a style of play that required him to pass out of double teams in interviews with reporters, including Dane Moore:
“That’s a good brand of basketball, but it’s not how I want to play, of course. I’m only 23, I don’t want to just be passing the ball all night. … But the way that they’re guarding me, I think I have to.”
Additionally, Edwards stated that he is unsure of what to do and that it was “super hard” to remain interested while being double-teamed:
“Them doubling me, definitely it’s like, ‘Bro, what is going on?’ I’m trying to figure it out … I don’t know what to do honestly, but it’s not fun. I don’t want to look like I’m not trying or not as good as I am, because I am, but I can’t show it because I’m getting double-teamed.
“It’s definitely frustrating to see these guys cooking us and I can’t cook them.”
The young athlete who is the cornerstone of your team’s future is not the best person to hear that. It’s also not difficult to picture all of the NBA teams hearing those lines and taking them to mean “Continue to double-team Anthony Edwards.” It’s functioning.
Edwards hasn’t made much progress in Towns’ absence, but he’s been about as productive overall as he was the previous season, albeit less so in the last two weeks. He has shot 39.3% and averaged 18.9 points per game during that time, helping Minnesota go 3-5.
Naturally, Edwards is not the first young athlete to have to contend with frequent double teams. For NBA stars, it’s essentially a rite of passage, and the solution is always to either figure out how to score through double teams or increase teams’ fear of finding the open man. The strange thing is that Edwards expresses his lack of interest in the second option directly.
Jayson Tatum flung his arms up in what appeared to be relief after Anthony Edwards missed a game-winning 3-pointer at the final beep. Following the game, the Celtics players remarked on Neemias Queta’s unblockable hook jumper and joked about the bucket that was taken away from the center by an official review in the locker room. Many of the players didn’t seem eager to leave the locker room, even though the club had to take a plane to Houston for the second part of a back-to-back. Instead, they reveled in the specifics of their quality victory.
To them, it appeared to be medicine. White put pressure on himself to react against the Timberwolves since he didn’t think he played his best basketball during December. He finished with two blocks, two charges, and 26 points. After the Timberwolves temporarily took the lead early in the fourth quarter, White scored 13 points, including several crucial baskets.
The Celtics wanted to get off to a strong start to January after an 8-6 December that tied the poorest month of Joe Mazzulla’s time as head coach. Always looking for more to learn, Mazzulla said it was enjoyable to watch his colleagues “work through some stuff.”
He believed the Boston players had the right mentality to attack the upcoming month, which will feature road games against seven of the top eight teams in the Western Conference, plus the Warriors who ended Thursday night in 10th place.
After the downs of December, the Celtics sounded eager to embrace the challenge and fight to play with their usual identity again.
Tatum started doing his part hours before tipoff. The Celtics often assign him to defend centers because of how matching up that way limits opposing pick-and-roll attacks, but he wanted to handle one of Minnesota’s perimeter players instead.
Tatum asked Mazzulla to guard Edwards.
“We just had a talk this morning,” Tatum said, “knowing we had a few guys out, so our lineup was gonna be different. So just another way to insert yourself into the game and be focused and locked in. If you’re guarding the other team’s best player, even if you’re not in rhythm offensively you’ve got to be locked in defensively. So just another way to get yourself going.”
Edwards and Tatum have some history together. Edwards claimed that people were “tripping” when they referred to Tatum as the league’s top player in the Netflix documentary “Starting 5.” When asked why he approached Mazzulla about guarding Edwards, Tatum refused to acknowledge whether or not the remark from the previous season was the reason he demanded the matchup. Tatum claimed that there was more to the decision’s reasoning than just his desire to start moving. He desired to motivate his group. He intended to convey the idea that January would not proceed like December did.
Porziņģis and Brown might be back shortly. Brown, who sustained the injury Tuesday during a victory against Toronto, will be day-to-day, according to Mazzulla. During Thursday morning’s Celtics shootaround, Porzingis worked out on the court and said that his sprained left ankle felt considerably better than it had. Following his most recent injury this season, he stated that he is “getting close” to returning to the Boston lineup.
Not being able to get into a solid rhythm is really aggravating and stressful, Porzingis admitted. “And then, boom, another little thing happens and you’re out for a couple of games and dealing with this,” he said. This, however, is a part of the life we have chosen. These things can happen to me because of the peculiarities of my physique.
He and the Timberwolves fortunately have plenty of time to make adjustments. Their next chance for a step forward will be on the road Saturday against the Detroit Pistons.
