Anthony Edwards thought he had energy.
But once the Timberwolves’ Game 3 against the Nuggets began, the Timberwolves star “never found it” during their 117-90 loss to the defending champions.
Edwards, with 43 and 27 points, was a primary reason why the Timberwolves snagged a surprising 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinals series.
And when he managed just 19 in their first loss of the postseason, Edwards didn’t hesitate to accept responsibility and criticize himself for a lack of energy Friday night.
“It’s on me, I’ll take the blame for this loss,” he told reporters postgame. “I came out with no energy at all. … I can’t afford to do that for my team. I let my team and my coaches down, the fans down. I’ll be ready Sunday.”
Edwards, who averaged 25.9 points per game during the regular season and finished seventh in MVP voting, has blossomed into Timberwolves’ top scoring option since getting selected No. 1 overall out of Georgia in 2020.
This year, it helped Minnesota secure the No. 3 overall seed in the playoffs, and they opened by sweeping the Suns and prompting Phoenix — featuring a lineup that includes Kevin Durent, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal — to fire head coach Frank Vogel after just one season and one disappointing postseason exit.
He averaged 31.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists across those four games, and his 30.4 points-per-game average throughout the postseason sits fourth in the NBA behind Jalen Brunson (34.6), Joel Embiid (33.0) and Damian Lillard (31.3).
But Friday, Edwards and the Timberwolves were down eight points after the first quarter, 15 at halftime and never pulled within 13 points — with their deficit only ballooning — the rest of the game.
“I just was flat the entire game,” Edwards, who hit 8-of-15 shots, said.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 24 points each, while Michael Porter Jr. added 21, and they can even the series with another victory on Sunday in Minnesota.
“We still got it,” Edwards said. “They just made shots tonight. They played well, man. They’re the defending champs. We didn’t expect it to be easy, so it’s what we wanted.”
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