Anthony Edwards said Thursday that he doesn’t play the basketball to pass the ball when the defense is focused on him. I showed it on Saturday.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star scored a career-high 53 points on Saturday, accounting for most of the team’s scoring in a 119-105 loss to the Detroit Pistons. Edwards also finished the game with two assists and six turnovers.
Edwards also accounted for 16 of Minnesota’s 34 field goals and 31 of 80 attempts.
It was a disastrous game overall for the Timberwolves, who leaned on Edwards far more than the final numbers would suggest. At one point, he had 43 of his 68 points and didn’t record his second assist until the final three minutes of the game. The Pistons were up by double digits in the first few minutes of the second quarter and led by as many as 24 points in the third.
The loss encapsulates the issues that have plagued the Timberwolves since they traded Karl-Anthony Towns and bet big on Edwards as the first and, frankly, second option on offense. The team’s record now stands at 17-17, and Edwards has publicly expressed his displeasure with the number of double teams he is facing.
After Thursday’s loss to the Boston Celtics, Edwards said he didn’t enjoy being double-teamed and was still wondering what to do. He also made it very clear that he would not pass.
“It’s a good brand of basketball, but of course it’s not the way I want to play. I’m only 23 years old, and I don’t want to be passing the ball all night. … But the way they play, I think they should keep me.”
The Pistons might have been listening.
