Is Anthony Edwards ascending to NBA elite status with latest victory?
By Bret Stuter
Scores points? Check
But he can score points, that’s for sure. That’s pretty amazing for a 21-year-old that has stepped up his game on defense, has been tasked with point guard duties, and has even been tasked with leading this playoff-hopeful team in some of the toughest times of the season so far. Why? Because his coach has asked him to, that’s why.
But even as he throws himself at any and every new challenge or role pointed out to him by Coach Finch, he has maintained his own role and identity on the Timberwolves roster. He scores points and lots of them.
Only five players have scored more second half PPG over their team's last 10 games than Anthony Edwards (16.4):
— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) January 3, 2023
1) Luka Dončić - 19.4
2) Devin Booker - 19.0*
3) Zion Williamson - 18.4
4) LeBron James - 18.3
5) Jayson Tatum - 16.7
*only 2 GP
The third-year leap is soaring pic.twitter.com/G4S3YPxHQ8
That’s some pretty good company to keep, isn’t it?
Lookie there, Luka Garza helps Timberwolves go undefeated in 2023. light. Hot
Edwards does it all
But if you try to define Anthony Edwards’s value to the Minnesota Timberwolves right now by the points he scores, you miss about 2/3rds of what he really does for the team. But while we are here, let’s talk about his most recent ten games. During that stretch, he scored 294 points or an impressive average of 29.4 points per game. While that level of offensive output is impressive in its own right, Edwards did it against some of the best teams in the NBA, and the toughest defenses.
He scored 30 points against the Milwaukee Bucks (5th-ranked defense), 29 points against the Miami Heat (3rd-ranked defense), 32 points against the Portland Trail Blazers (12th-ranked defense) and he averaged 25 points in two games against the Dallas Mavericks (6th-ranked defense). And he’s done so as the only true offensive threat on the Timberwolves roster due to so many injuries.