Even after losing the first two games of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves still have to feel like they have a chance to come back against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mostly because they have Anthony Edwards, and on any given night, he is capable of taking over a game and changing it all by himself.
He did exactly that in Game 3 on Saturday night, leading the Timberwolves to a 143-101 win to get themselves back into the series.
Edwards’ final stat line is impressive enough without any further context than just the numbers. He finished with 30 points, recorded nine rebounds, six assists and two steals and was 5-of-8 from three-point range.
He also was sent to the foul line for just two shots and did pretty much all of his damage offensively from the field.
It was a truly dominant performance.
And then you realize that he did all of that while playing only three quarters of the game because it became such a blowout, and the Timberwolves didn’t even need him in the fourth quarter.
That makes it even more impressive.
No matter what the Thunder did to try and slow him down, it didn’t matter. One of Edwards’ best highlights of the night came late in the third quarter when he had three Thunder players closing in on him, and he still effortlessly hit a fade-away jumper.