Anthony Edwards is not afraid. That much has been made clear over the course of the 23-year-old superstar’s five-year NBA career. Ant-Man believes he’s better than anyone he goes against, and he’s generally been proven right, as he and his Minnesota Timberwolves have taken down some of the biggest names in the game. Last year, they swept Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, then stifled three-time MVP Nikola Jokic in a Game 7 on the Joker’s home court.
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Edwards can add another pelt to his trophy room, as he just took down LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games to advance to the Western Conference semis. He’ll now await the winner of the Rockets-Warriors series, which was extended to at least six games with last night’s Rockets victory.
Edwards was justifiably feeling good after knocking out the Lakers and paraphrased the now-moot catchphrase of Lakers superfan Shannon Sharpe by repeatedly saying, “Wolves in five.”
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Adidas, the company that makes Edwards’ signature AE 1 shoe, was also feeling itself after the game. It’s social media team was already looking ahead to a possible matchup with Steph Curry and the Warriors in the next round, commenting, “AE hungry for some Curry…” in the above post.
That slant is an obvious shot across the bow at the Warriors superstar and Under Armour spokesperson. Edwards hasn’t faced Steph and the Warriors in the playoffs before, but if that matchup comes to pass, it’s going to make for an epic series because these have been two of the best teams in the league since the All-Star break.
Who would win a Wolves-Warriors second-round series?
The Warriors can’t afford to look ahead yet, but with Game 6 taking place tomorrow night at the Chase Center, it feels like a good bet that they’ll be able to hold serve at home and clinch. What would a matchup with the Wolves look like if it came to pass?
Both teams have come a long way from the beginning of the season. The Warriors were 1 game under .500 and 10th in the West before adding Jimmy Butler but finished the season on a 23-8 run with him.
The Wolves took some time to jell after surprisingly trading Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo just before the regular season started, but they’ve found their stride now. They entered the playoffs on a 16-4 run in their last 20, and they proved how dangerous they are by dusting the Lakers.
The two teams played three times in December and once in January, with the Warriors winning three of four. Those meetings took place well before either team started hitting their peak and well before Butler arrived, which makes them functionally useless in predicting who will win.
Wolves-Warriors will be a close series if it happens, and it’s bound to get chippy with Ant-Man and Draymond Green going at it. The Warriors are banged up, though. Steph is nursing a sprained thumb, and Butler missed Game 3 with a pelvic contusion.
Even if the Warriors were healthy, though, it feels like the Wolves are too well-rounded to lose. Edwards has taken his game to another level, and the Wolves showed against the Lakers that they can punish small-ball lineups. That’s the way the Warriors like to play, so this would be an especially tough matchup for them.
I’m going on the record and saying that if this series comes to pass, it’s going to be Wolves in six, with another closeout win on the road over a team that doesn’t have as much left in the tank.
