Anthony Edwards just can’t believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves lost to the Dallas Mavericks, especially after it looked like they have turned the tables in the fourth quarter after trailing for the most part of the game.
The Timberwolves entered the fourth quarter of Sunday’s contest behind the Mavs by nine points, 91-82. However, Edwards and Co. seemed to have found their rhythm when they erased that deficit and took a six-point lead with 3:53 to go in the final quarter, 106-100.
In a cruel twist of fate, though, the Timberwolves would only score two points after that. Luka Doncic and the Mavs proceeded to go on a 15-2 run–highlighted by a stretch of 13 unanswered points–to secure the 115-108 victory.
Edwards was naturally dumbfounded over the wild turn of events, adding that it still hasn’t registered to him that they actually gave the win away.
“We supposed to win this game. But I guess we lost. I still feel like we won. It’s still not coming to me how we lost this game,” Edwards told reporters in his postgame presser, per reporter Dane Moore.
Nonetheless, Anthony Edwards did admit that he’s partly to blame for the result. He emphasized the the loss definitely stung considering how close they are to actually winning their second game in a row, but in the end, they didn’t. For Edwards, he realized he could have been more aggressive in the end when the shots aren’t falling for the rest of the team.
“Yeah because I feel like, once again, I left bullets in the chamber,” the Minnesota Timberwolves star added when asked if the defeat hurts, especially since they have been great in clutch situations for the most part of the season so far.
“But I’ll take this one, for sure. I gotta be aggressive down the stretch. … I took one shot in the last three minutes of the game. … I need to take them motherf**kers with two minutes left on the clock. That’s on me, though. I gotta be better. I gotta be more aggressive. I can’t let the double team just make me not aggressive.”
The loss gave the Timberwolves their 10th defeat of the year, leaving the Boston Celtics as the only team with a single-digit losing record this campaign.
While Minnesota remains atop the West, the Denver Nuggets got a step closer from toppling them. The Nikola Jokic-led team is now just half a game behind the Timberwolves.
Minnesota Timberwolves Had No Answer for Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving
As Anthony Edwards suggested, the Minnesota Timberwolves can blame no one but themselves for the loss. They are the best defensive team in the NBA this 2023-24, but that top-rated defense was nowhere to be seen on Sunday.
The Timberwolves allowed both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have their way, with the duo combining for 69 points in the contest. Irving scored six of his eight points in the fourth quarter in that crucial final four minutes.
Irving actually drained back-to-back triples to tie the game at 106-all and eventually give the Mavs the lead.
Edwards, for his part, top-scored for Minnesota with 36 points, including 12 in the final period. Unfortunately, his efforts weren’t enough.
The Timberwolves face the Orlando Magic next on Tuesday, and sure enough, hopes are high that they are going to bounce back.
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