Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards tips hat to Thunder after Game 5 blowout
The post Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards tips hat to Thunder after Game 5 blowout appeared first on ClutchPoints.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have accomplished so much over the past two seasons, but they have fallen short of their ultimate goal of winning a championship once more. Wednesday night was a bit of deja vu for the Timberwolves, as they saw their season come to a horrific end, being defeated yet again in the Western Conference Finals in five games after being crushed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5, 124-94.
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In the end, the Timberwolves simply did not have enough firepower to make the series more competitive against the powerhouse Thunder. They needed to execute at a near-perfect level, but they couldn't even come close to that as a ghastly first-half performance proved to be the undoing of their season.
All Anthony Edwards could do after the game was give credit to the Thunder for being the better team.
'They dominated the game from the tip. Can't do nothing but tip my hats to those guys. They came ready. Good job by them,' Edwards said in his postgame presser, via Josue Pavon, Thunder beat reporter for ClutchPoints.
Edwards, in particular, found the Thunder's defense to be particularly smothering. OKC had too many weapons to deploy against the Timberwolves star; Luguentz Dort, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, and even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams had their time guarding Edwards.
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Edwards couldn't knife his way into the lane with the ease he usually has, and it forced him to settle for tough shots that simply made scoring the basketball an uphill climb for both him and the Timberwolves. In Game 5, Edwards was held to just 19 points on 7-18 shooting from the field, and this has to be another humbling moment for him.
The good news is that Edwards will be turning just 24 years of age prior to the start of next season, and he's already been to the Western Conference Finals twice. This should only harden his resolve as the Timberwolves now look to find the missing pieces necessary for them to be able to get over the hump.
Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves look for the missing piece
Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
The Timberwolves have lost in the WCF in five games for the second consecutive year, although this time around, the gap between them and the West's NBA Finals representative, the Thunder, appear to be bigger than last year.
With salary cap problems set to continue plaguing the Timberwolves, it will be interesting to monitor which direction they will take when it comes to finding the missing piece to their championship puzzle. Will they trade for Kevin Durant? Or will they hope that internal improvements would be enough to get them over the hump?
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