The last thing that the Minnesota Timberwolves need is another injury. But that may be what this team must face as their star shooting guard Anthony Edwards continues to fend off a hip/tailbone injury suffered during the battle with the Milwaukee Buck. He injured himself in a fearsome fall on his left hip and tailbone in an incredibly athletic and contortionist drive to the basket in a loss against the Milwaukee Bucks. To catch that play, just click this link here.
The injury did not force Edwards to the bench, as he remained in the game over the final four minutes, and tried to rally the Minnesota Timberwolves to a come-from-behind win. Despite his questionable status, Edwards did suit up to face the Detroit Pistons. But his availability remains in question for the Timberwolves game on January 2, 2023, as they host the Denver Nuggets for their first meeting, a game to be played at Target Center with a tipoff scheduled for 7:00 pm CT.
As of January 1st, Edwards is the lone Timberwolves starter to suit up for all 37 games so far, and his 23.3 points per game lead the team’s offensive output by an ever-growing margin. But he does far more for this team than just score points. He has truly matured into the type of player who brings his A game on both ends of the basketball court. He is the third-leading rebounder on this team with 6.2 rebounds per game. He is the third-leading distributor, tossing out 4.4 assists per game.
Defensively, Edwards leads the team with 1.8 steals per game. He is even sixth on the team with 0.5 blocks per game
The bottom line right now is that the Minnesota Timberwolves will never have a good time playing a game without star shooting guard Anthony Edwards. But right now, with Karl-Anthony Towns continuing to rehab from a calf injury, and the absence of Taurean Prince and Jordan McLaughlin, this roster hasn’t the capacity to absorb minutes from any games missed by Edwards.
The Timberwolves want to win a game and stop this losing streak at all costs. But the team is pushing Anthony Edwards to play nearly 37 minutes per game, a pace that could burn out the young star long before the NBA Playoffs arrive.
And I may be wrong, but losing Anthony Edwards to injury for any prolonged time seems . . . counter-productive.