Towns Fouls Out With 7:34 Remaining
Seconds after Anthony Edwards had checked in, Karl-Anthony Towns recorded his sixth foul with the Timberwolves down 93-86 in their Play-In Tournament matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers.
He had just missed three of his last four free throw attempts, and Minnesota’s offense was spiraling. Anthony Edwards had checked in just 30 seconds of game time earlier.
Naz Reid checked in as Towns grabbed some bench, and second-year Edwards led the Timberwolves to an incredible comeback after being handed the offense’s reins. In that final 7:34, Edwards racked up 10 of the Timberwolves’ final 23 points, including some clutch free throws in the end to seal the win.
Edwards ended with 30 points, shooting 5-11 from the three-point line and finishing 10-21 on all field goal attempts. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers in 37 total minutes.
After 24 minutes of action, KAT was 3-11 from the field. The former three-point contest champion was 0-2 from range and finished with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers.
Obviously, this is just one game.
Karl-Anthony Towns has already made the All-Star Game multiple times in his career, while Edwards has not. He is also a better shooter and rebounder and has shown in the past that he can be a dominant player that can take over games.
But Anthony Edwards is slowly becoming all of those things. The 2021 Number One overall draft pick has improved in nearly every statistical category since his rookie season. In Minnesota’s first playoff-level-intensity matchup, it was Edwards, not Towns, that showed up big and delivered the victory.
Anthony Edwards Can Actually Bang In The Playoffs
If the Play-In game showed anything, it’s that KAT still can’t carry a team through the playoffs.
In 2018, Towns averaged 15.2 points on 46 percent shooting (plus 27 percent from three-point range) in a five-game first-round series loss to the Houston Rockets. In that series, KAT struggled against a more physical big in Clint Capela, who put up the two best scoring performances of his playoff career against Towns.
Towns was too easily bothered by Capela’s physicality and was a non-factor in both offense and defense. He had the chance to show some improvement in that area on Tuesday but failed. Los Angeles got away with using aging veterans Nicolas Batum and Robert Covington to guard KAT, not to mention both wings gave up significant height advantages.
Until he proves otherwise, Towns looks to be a subpar playoff performer because of his inability to deal with contact. The best way to use him in the playoffs is around the perimeter, where he can shoot threes and facilitate for others.
Instead, Anthony Edwards can bang it out.
While still raw in many areas, Edwards is the Timberwolves’ best bet as a playoff scorer because of his ability and willingness to play physically. That alone should be enough for Minnesota to put the ball in his hands instead of Towns down the stretch. It worked Tuesday, and it should work again in a similarly intense series against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Is Anthony Edwards the T-Wolves’ best offensive player then? No, Karl-Anthony Towns is still the most skilled. But Edwards has different abilities than Towns that translate better into postseason scoring. If Minnesota takes advantage of what they have in Edwards, it could lead to much more success than a Play-In berth and a seventh seed.
“There’s No Way Minnesota Gets Past Memphis In The First Round”
This is true. Memphis is one of the best teams in the league, led by one of the NBA’s best young point guards in Ja Morant. Morant has reached this level by improving dramatically in his first two years in the league.
Wait a minute.
Edwards will not be able to lead the Timberwolves to anything in the present. But the future of this franchise lies with him making a leap in the next few years, not an already 26-year-old star who can’t bang in the paint.
Edwards, like Morant, has also improved dramatically in his first two years in the league. If he were to take a few more steps forward in his development, there’s no telling where the Timberwolves will go.
On the other hand, Karl-Anthony Towns has likely gotten pretty close to his overall ceiling. Being willing to play through contact is not something that is taught. It is an inherent trait.
Edwards has it. Towns does not.
Unless the center adds a low-post game, there isn’t much room for improvement. It would be better to live and die by Anthony Edwards’ limited offensive game because of his physicality. Choosing to play through the less willing Towns puts a ceiling on the Timberwolves’ potential success.
Playing through Edwards puts no such ceiling on Minnesota. They would be smart to play through the Ant-Man now, defining each of the Timberwolves’ new roles as soon as possible.
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