Anthony Edwards’ inconsistency could doom Minnesota Timberwolves

After falling on the road to the Spurs Sunday evening, the Minnesota Timberwolves are continuing their up and down ways to begin the 2022-23 season. In their third contest with San Antonio in less than a week, Minnesota looked lethargic at times and fell to an inferior team yet again, 107-98.

Of course, it’s extremely unusual to get this kind of scheduling this early in the season. Seven games into the season, the Timberwolves have faced the Spurs nearly half the time they’ve taken the floor.

Even so, that shouldn’t be a talking point used to give Minnesota some type of pass for their poor play. San Antonio is still a projected lottery team, and many of us believed the Timberwolves had a shot at a 7-0 start to the season with their easier beginning slate.

So what’s been the main cause of this lackluster start for Minnesota? There’s a multitude of factors at play, but one of the biggest has to be the play of Anthony Edwards.

Anthony Edwards hasn’t found his consistency yet

Leading up to the season, one of the biggest talking points when discussing the Minnesota Timberwolves was always Anthony Edwards. He’s a multi-talented, ultra-athletic budding young star with a chance to help lift the Timberwolves to the level of a true championship contender.

But through seven games in the regular season, he has yet to find his consistency. While a 23.8 points per game scoring average is far from awful, Ant is still finding himself in too many prolonged stretches where he doesn’t look like his normal self. Some of this will resolve itself as the season goes on, but it’s concerning nonetheless.

Edwards has dropped 30 points in three games this season and scored 29 in another. His highs are still just as high as we remember, but his lows are lower than they should be as well. On Sunday night against the Spurs, his first half of play consisted of zero points on 0-for-7 shooting in 14 minutes of play.

Edwards must play at high level for Timberwolves to compete for title

Going forward, Anthony Edwards simply has to eliminate these kinds of stretches. While he ended up scoring 18 points on Sunday, his dud of a first half left the Timberwolves in a 10-point hole at halftime, and it proved to be too big a deficit to overcome on the road.

This could become a trend throughout Minnesota’s season. If Ant isn’t producing at the level he’s capable of, anyone can beat the Timberwolves.

We know that a superstar player is what will ultimately propel a team to the level of being worthy of a championship. Edwards has that potential, but he’ll need to work on being more consistent each time he steps on the floor.

The good news for Timberwolves fans is, there’s still a lot of time to figure things out. Anthony Edwards’ current inconsistency shouldn’t trigger a mass panic, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.