Player grades from the Timberwolves season sweep against Spurs

Anthony Edwards dropped a career-high 49 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the San Antonio Spurs 127-121 at home on Thursday night.

Anthony Edwards’ career-high leads Timberwolves over Spurs

After leading by double digits for most of the second half, Minnesota held on late to secure a regular season sweep over the Spurs for the first time since 1997.

Led by the sensational performance from Edwards, the Timberwolves snapped San Antonio’s three-game win streak and improved to 46-35 with the play-in tournament less than a week away.

Following Denver’s blowout over Memphis, Minnesota is locked into the No. 7 seed and will host the Clippers in the play-in on Tuesday.

Player grades from the Timberwolves season sweep against Spurs

Anthony Edwards: A+

49 points (16/28 FG, 6/14 3PFG, 11/14 FT), 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal

The spectacular sophomore guard continued to display special scoring ability with a career-best 49 points including 17 in the fourth quarter. Edwards now has the second most 40-point games (5) before the age of 21, trailing only LeBron James (8) in league history.

It was a special night for the former No. 1 overall pick, who put on a show with a two-handed poster dunk over Tre Jones and a handful of stepback 3-pointers.

Edwards knocked down the first two shots of the night and scored 15 points on 6/9 from the field in the first quarter before exploding for 15 straight points in the second half. Beyond the dominant scoring output, Edwards was creating quality shots for others as well and racked up eight assists and six rebounds in 39 minutes. He started 6/9 from deep before missing his last five attempts as the Spurs tried to complete the comeback.

Karl-Anthony Towns: B+

21 points (7/18 FG, 4/7 3PFG, 3/5 FT), 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers

Karl-Anthony Towns finished with a franchise-record 60 points in a win at San Antonio on March 14 but took a backseat this time around as Edwards carried the offensive load. After getting off to a relatively slow start, Towns threw down an alley-oop slam from Patrick Beverley and then drilled a transition 3-pointer to put the Timberwolves up 53-48 with 4:24 left in the first half. He had 11 points and five rebounds at halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Chris Finch’s successful challenge gave Towns an and-one that was originally called an offensive foul. Instead of being the fourth foul on Towns, he went on a personal 8-0 run to push the lead to double digits.

The Timberwolves big man might not have played to his full potential but still had a solid game as he shot 4/7 from beyond the arc and racked up a team-high 13 rebounds in the win.

Jaden McDaniels: B

10 points (4/6 FG, 2/2 3PFG, 0/0 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 turnover

McDaniels suffered a sprained ankle injury against the Spurs last month and missed nine games before returning on Tuesday. Even though the Timberwolves struggled in the loss to Washington, it was good to see McDaniels back on the floor. He totaled just two rebounds and one assist in 15 minutes but got a chance to shake off the rust. In the win over San Antonio, the 6-foot-9 forward finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

Minnesota trailed 35-30 after the first quarter before McDaniels helped reclaim the lead with back to back 3-pointers. In the second half, he also connected on a difficult runner in the lane to give the Timberwolves a 94-82 lead. With the postseason approaching, the Washington product will have an opportunity to play an important role going forward. Finch needs production from the bench and having McDaniels available is definitely a relief.

Minnesota’s defense stepped up in the win over San Antonio and will look to keep it going in the regular season finale against the Bulls on Sunday night. With a win, the Timberwolves would tie the 5th best record in franchise history at 47-35. D’Angelo Russell is questionable to play with bilateral hamstring soreness.