Ant Edwards played the disappointing Western Conference Finals as the Wolves lost five games. Director Chris Finch explains what needs to be improved in the aftermath.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were massacred by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. The score was 124-94 as they were mercilessly pushed out of the playoffs.
Anthony Edwards was a disappointment of the night, managing just 19 points with a 39% shooting performance from the field. Unfortunately, this wasn’t his first poor game in the series either.
Edwards returned to critics after his Game 4 performance was criticised. I didn’t take this well. Stephen A. Smith asked Ali after what he said.
The 23-year-old needed a great performance after that, but was unable to offer it. And now his head coach has identified his biggest weakness from the series.
OKC is an elite defensive team. One of their greatest strengths is their physicality. It was clear during the victory in the final of this comfortable meeting.
Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace combined to provide a great defense against Edwards. Some were probably rough, but they got the job done.
Chris Finch had previously complained about the contact that Thunder was allowed to escape. But after a brutal Game 5 defeat, that’s exactly what he said his young superstar had to overcome.
“Obviously he has to learn to oppose that physicality, and he’s always holding that,” Finch said at a post-game press conference.
“They made it difficult for him… he has to find some simple buckets. I have to help him do so. I don’t think we were able to establish anything that would match him.”
It’s not just that the Timberwolves lost in the conference finals. That’s how they did it. Losing in five games means that the team is overtaken and Ali’s output is the main contributor.
Edwards averaged 23.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. That’s 4.6 points less per game than average during the regular season.
The Minnesota All-Star scored under 20 points in three of the five games. Despite being the NBA’s three-point leader this year, Ant shot a disastrous 28.2%, 28.2% from range.
Edwards is young and he continues to improve. However, as the Western Conference continues to grow even more severely, he needs to find a way to be undeniable and faster in the playoffs.