For all the talk about Edwards being the NBA’s resident “King Slayer,” as his shoe company recently crowned him, he wasn’t living up to that title in the first half. There was no Curry on the floor, yet Edwards and his Timberwolves were being outworked and outplayed by the undermanned Warriors as they led 42-40. Edwards had just eight points on 3-of-12 shooting at the break, with two rebounds, two assists and a minus-11 rating.
Yikes, in other words.
But Edwards made amends in the second half, dominating in the kind of entertaining, unstoppable way that comes in flashes with the 23-year-old rising star. His dunk over Warriors big man Kevon Looney late in the third quarter was just plain rude — and a big-time spark for Minnesota — with Edwards darting past Jonathan Kuminga going right, launching off two feet and finishing in fantastic fashion for a three-point lead.
Edwards hit a 3 moments later to continue the momentum, and was off to the races from there. By night’s end, he finished with 36 points (13-of-28 shooting, with five 3s in 14 attempts), four rebounds, four assists and a much-improved plus-minus mark of minus-4.
Edwards’ latest outing wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty when it counted.