SAN FRANCISCO — Trailing at halftime after getting dominated on the boards, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards spoke up in the locker room, sparking a third-quarter turnaround and eventual 117-110 win over the Golden State Warriors to go up 3-1 in their second-round series.
“I told them, ‘We only got two wins,'” Edwards said after Monday’s Game 4, recalling his message. “I’ve never seen a series end 2-1. I told them we have to get two more wins and right now we’re playing like we already got four wins. … We had to figure it out because if we would have kept playing like that, we would have lost tonight.”
Edwards led the charge after the break, scoring 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting, nearly single-handedly matching the Warriors’ total for the quarter as Minnesota won the quarter 39-17. It was the largest positive margin for a quarter in Wolves postseason history.
While Edwards jumpstarted the scoring, Minnesota’s defense held Golden State to 7-for-19 shooting (36.8%) and outrebounded the Warriors 10-5 after being beaten on the boards, 25-15, in the first half.
“He was one of the guys that was most vocal at halftime,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said of Edwards. “[He] realized what was going on out there and we needed to be better. It started with him, really, and setting the tone.”
Edwards finished with 30 points on 11-for-21 shooting and five assists and veteran forward Julius Randle scored 31 on 11-for-21 shooting with five rebounds.
The two have been Minnesota’s pillars of production during the Wolves’ 7-2 record through the postseason thus far.
However, the 30-year-old Randle gave all the credit to the 23-year-old Edwards.
“I know it starts with us, but it’s Ant,” Randle said. “Ant’s the brightest star in the room … He has that ‘it’ factor. For me, I always try to tell him to go be great.”
It was Edwards’ second straight 30-point effort in the Western Conference semifinals and third of the playoffs as the Wolves won Games 3 and 4 at Chase Center to create a closeout opportunity in Wednesday’s Game 5 back in Minneapolis.
Jaden McDaniels added 10 points and a career postseason best 13 rebounds and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting off the bench, while the Wolves were able to limit Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to a combined nine points after halftime after they scored 27 together in the first half.
Now the Wolves will aim to bring the same urgency they found in the third quarter from the opening tipoff Wednesday, with a chance to reach the conference finals for a second straight year.
“For us it’s just about defending home court, being better than that and growing,” Alexander-Walker said. “It’s far from over. This one is going to be harder than the first three. It’s just about having that focus to do what we need to do to get it done.”