Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Timberwolves All-Star Anthony Edwards doesn’t seem like he’d be worried about a potential matchup with the Clippers in the NBA playoffs.
With six minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves trailed the LA Clippers by 21 points, down 53-32. The Wolves, just 1-2 since losing 2024 All-Star MVP Karl-Anthony Towns for (at least) the rest of the regular season due to a torn meniscus, could have folded.
But Anthony Edwards wasn’t having that.
The most well-known Ant Man this side of Paul Rudd immediately answered that deficit with a bucket on the next possession, part of a second-quarter scoring binge that led to 12 of his 14 points in the period — while assisting on one other bucket and missing the shot that led to another tip-in to create more offense — fueling a 23-10 run to allow Minnesota to trail by just eight points entering halftime.
In perhaps the most indicative sign of what was to come, one of his threes even led Clippers star Paul George to go full “sad Michael Cera gif” in the background:
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
But Edwards wasn’t done. He scored 37 points in the game to go with 8 assists and 4 rebounds, with the Wolves outscoring the Clippers 63-37 in the second half. The Edwards-fueled surge helped them build their own 20-point lead before winning by “only” 18, 118-100, running LA off their home floor and demoralizing their fans.
A fan wearing a Clippers hat in section 110 took his hat off after the latest Mike Conley layup and walked up the stairs towards the concourse shouting, “Terrible! Crap!” It’s been a rough one for the fans tonight.
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) March 13, 2024
The full-game highlights are as sensational as you’d expect from one of the most electric young guards in the NBA…
…but Edwards still wasn’t finished flushing toilet enthusiast Steve Ballmer’s team on national television. He saved his final frying for after the game, telling TNT sideline reporter Stephanie Ready that all he saw out there were “a bunch of mismatches.”
Now, to be as fair as possible, the Clippers did lose Kawhi Leonard midgame due to back spasms that caused him to leave the arena in the first quarter. But the Clippers built much of their lead after that point, making this still a pretty bad collapse, at home, against a team they coukd be slated to face in the 4-5 matchup of the first round of the NBA playoffs if both teams drop one spot in the standings amidst their current injury woes.
Suffice to say if that matchup happens, Anthony Edwards will be as confident as ever going into it, and it will be up to the Clippers to try and change that if they don’t want their last series in the building formerly known as Staples Center to be yet another first-round loss.
