Anthony Edwards Slammed The Door On The Suns As The Wolves Completed A First Round Sweep

For the first time since 2004, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won a playoff series. On Sunday night, the Wolves picked up a 122-116 win over the Phoenix Suns to punch their ticket to the Western Conference semifinals with an emphatic sweep, making them the first team to take care of business in the playoffs this year.

The story of the game was Phoenix’s inability to get anyone other than Kevin Durant and Devin Booker going. The two stars were from the opening tip, absolutely magnificent in trying to get their team to fight another day — Booker had a game-high 49 points, while Durant put up 33.

Both players had the sorts of performances that should have helped Phoenix pick up an emphatic win. Instead, the Suns couldn’t get anyone else going (Bradley Beal, in particular, struggled as he only scored nine points and fouled out). Neither team was able to get a ton of breathing room on the other — the game had 23 lead changes and 21 ties, while the largest lead either team had was only six points.

But as the saying goes, cometh the hour, cometh the man. And in this series, from the very beginning until the very end on Sunday night, Anthony Edwards was the man. Edwards was a monster, particularly down the stretch, as he emphatically announced to anyone and everyone who might have had doubts that he is clearly one of the best basketball players in the world.

On the night, Edwards was brilliant, going for 40 points on 13-for-23 shooting from the field and 7-for-13 shooting from three with nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and a steal. He was especially great late in the game, as he made big shot after big shot that helped Minnesota gain control of how things were going. He also made two of the best plays you’ll ever see — one was a block where he enveloped an attempt at the rim by Devin Booker, the other was a ridiculous one-handed slam that will be on highlight reels for years.

In a bit of a surprise, Edwards was deputized by Karl-Anthony Towns in a big way. While he’s gained a reputation for struggling in the postseason, Towns had perhaps the best game of his playoff career in an elimination game, as he put up 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting and 10 rebounds.

Now, the Suns will go into what should be a fascinating offseason, because as we saw this season, the idea of this team just did not work. And while that happens, the Timberwolves will be sitting at home and resting up before their conference semifinal matchup against either the Denver Nuggets or the Los Angeles Lakers.