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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Throughout a season filled with shock and confusion and enough ups and downs to make a new rollercoaster at the Mall of America, there has always been one reason to believe in the Minnesota Timberwolves. He wears No.
5 on his chest, and even though he may make some questionable decisions on shot selection late in games, the hope that courses through the veins of the Timberwolves and their long-tortured fans stems from the notion that Anthony Edwards plays at his best when the stage he is standing on is big enough for the whole world to see. Advertisement He is still so young, which means he is prone to the inattentiveness and immaturity that can come with being 23 years old. But with youth also comes ambition, and it crackled through the Timberwolves’ locker room on Thursday night before they tipped off their most important game of the season.
In his short time in this league, Edwards has already established himself as a big-game player, the kind of person who rises to meet the moment when the moment requires it. That is why veteran Mike Conley was so emphatic that Thursday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies was a must-win. Coming off the most disappointing loss of the season, when Minnesota coughed up a 24-point lead with 10 minutes to play in Milwaukee, Conley immediately went to work in the locker room, emphasizing how important the Wolves’ game against the Grizzlies was for their playoff chances.
He wanted Edwards to hear him say it, to understand that there was no time left to lose. Because when a message like that gets through to Edwards, there are few players in the league who can reach greater heights. “Every game we play, 82 games, is a big game.
But tonight was a must-win, pretty much,” Edwards said. “I just had that sense, man, and when I get that sense it’s ugly for anybody.” That includes the Grizzlies.
Edwards scored 44 points, hit seven 3-pointers and got to the free-throw line for 13 attempts in Minnesota’s 141-125 victory over Memphis, a game the Wolves needed to get so they could control their own fate heading into the final two home games of the regular season. He scored 13 points in the first quarter to set a tone, added 13 in the second and then spearheaded the Wolves’ 52-point eruption in the third quarter with 18 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including three 3s. It was sheer dominance, the likes of which the Wolves rarely see against Memphis, a team that has had their number for several years.
heating up...
🔥 pic.twitter.com/DrTsTLzkCr — Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 11, 2025 “We know what Ant does,” Conley said.
“We need more of it, and he knows it. It’s that time of year.” This was Playoff Ant, making his 2024-25 debut a few games ahead of schedule, but right on time for the Timberwolves.
The win put Minnesota (47-33) in a tie, record-wise, with the Grizzlies (47-33), who play Denver on Friday night. If the Wolves win the next two games, against Brooklyn on Friday and Utah on Sunday, they will guarantee themselves a top-six seed. They could even rise as high as fourth depending on how the other teams in the West fare.
Advertisement If Memphis beats Denver on Friday and the Golden State Warriors beat the LA Clippers on Sunday, the Wolves will finish fourth and host Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. If Denver beats Memphis and the Clippers beat the Warriors, the Wolves would finish sixth. Minnesota would finish fifth if Memphis beats Denver and the Clippers beat the Warriors or if Denver beats Memphis and the Warriors beat the Clippers.
If the Wolves lose one or both of the home games, Play-In Tournament, here they come. YOOOOO 🕺 pic.twitter.
com/kiYE924Aoa — Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 11, 2025 While the fan base has been pulling its collective hair out all season long while following the twists and turns of the team, the one thing that can bring everyone back together is Playoff Ant. He rises in big moments, and the Wolves can rise with him. In his regular-season career, Edwards is averaging 23.
8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and shooting .
446/.364/.803.
In the playoffs, including last year’s run to the Western Conference finals, Edwards is going for 27.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.
5 assists and shooting .476/.391/.
823. Finch started noticing a difference in Edwards when the stakes were biggest from the moment he took over in the middle of Edwards’ rookie season in 2020-21. “He’s had that since he got here.
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He has a sense of the moment and the game,” Finch said. “Sometimes he wants it too bad. But that’s a good thing.
” The ambition can blind him, lure him into taking ill-advised hero shots or turning the ball over while trying to weave through traffic. Even on Thursday, he was largely terrible on defense in the first half, which helped the Grizzlies hang 72 points and take a five-point lead at halftime. In the locker room during the break, Finch challenged everyone to get into the fight on defense, including Edwards.
Again understanding the stakes and playing on national television, he obliged. Desmond Bane went 6-of-6 from 3-point range in the first half. He went 0-of-4 in the second half, hounded by Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
That defense fueled one of the best offensive quarters any team has played this season. The Wolves made 18 of 21 shots from the field, including 7 of 8 3s. The only miss from deep, by Julius Randle, ended up being one of the most electrifying plays of the game, when Ant elevated, scraped his knuckles on the FedEx Forum ceiling, and threw down a putback dunk.
HELLLLOOOOO 🫣 pic.twitter.com/lXxeBlZzxr — Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 11, 2025 It was a simply dazzling quarter of basketball, with Edwards unleashing an array of jaw-dropping shots that rendered the Grizzlies powerless.
With rookie defensive wizard Jaylen Wells out with a broken wrist, Memphis had no one for Edwards. When he hit a 3 off of a spin move to put Minnesota up 19, it started to get ugly for the Grizzlies. my goooodness.
😭 pic.twitter.com/wa9HCWqPJ1 — Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 11, 2025 “He’s Anthony Edwards.
He’s one of one,” Randle said as Edwards cracked joke after joke in the corner of the locker room. “The things that he does out there is one of one.” It had to be this way for the Wolves to have some hope after Tuesday night’s collapse against Milwaukee.
Two nights after their worst quarter of the season — the Bucks outscored them 40-13 and the Wolves shot .200/.167/100 in the period — Minnesota delivered the best offensive quarter of basketball all season.
Advertisement Minnesota won the period 52-25 and shot 85.7 percent on field goals, 87.5 percent on 3s and 90 percent on free throws.
It helped the Wolves build a 22-point lead going into the fourth quarter, a twisted little joke from the basketball gods after they led by 20 going into the fourth against Milwaukee. The Grizzlies pulled within 10 at one point, but the Wolves held them off at every turn. Edwards went scoreless in the fourth, but Randle took over down the stretch.
He hunted Bane in switches on the block, punishing the smaller guard by backing him down and shooting right over him. Randle had seven points and six rebounds in the quarter, just enough to keep the Grizzlies from stunning the Wolves for a second night in a row. OH WOW, JU 😳 pic.
twitter.com/KWnYpd3OR7 — Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 11, 2025 “It was needed,” Randle said. “We were definitely upset and just frustrated with how we let our guard down in the fourth quarter last game.
Today was important to refocus, come out with the right energy and mindset and just be resilient throughout the game.” Randle finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while also battling Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey in the paint.
He made 13 of 22 shots and 5 of 10 3s, forming a devastating one-two punch with Edwards. “The more I got to know him throughout the season, getting to play with him and learn his tendencies, I just try to make the game easier for him,” Randle said of Edwards. “That can come in many different ways.
” Wolves player development specialist Chris Hines has worked closely with Edwards since he entered the league. One of their main focuses is getting Edwards to practice visualization to help him lock into games both big and small. Hines will send him videos of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and other big stars just to get him going.
In the locker room before the game, Edwards was telling Conley that he spent much of the afternoon watching old video of LeBron James when he was going to eight straight NBA Finals with Miami and Cleveland. Advertisement Expecting Randle and Edwards to shoot the way they did on Thursday night — Edwards was 13-of-19 from the floor and 7-of-11 from 3-point land — is foolish. If the Wolves do make it to the playoffs, Randle will have some demons to exorcise in that venue.
Edwards? This is what he has been waiting for all season long. (Photo: Justin Ford / Getty Images).
