Anthony Edwards is questionable (hip), with no rest for the weary Wolf

Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards suffered a hip/tailbone injury in the loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on December 30, 2022. At the time, the injury appeared to be more serious than it has apparently turned out to be, as A1 has yet to miss a single game for the Timberwolves. And he continues to pull an average of 36.5 minutes per game.

All’s well that ends well, right?

Well, sure. If the season ended tomorrow? No sweat. But this insistence to play through the pain is counterproductive to the Timberwolves’ hopes of getting to and through the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

Since his fall, Anthony Edwards has competed in five games and has averaged 34.2 minutes, 21.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 0.6 blocks, and 0.6 steals per game. While his assists and blocks are on par with his seasonal averages, Edwards’s scoring and steals have dropped since that injury. And it doesn’t help the situation to see that he left the LA Clippers game quite early due to hip soreness.

While comments were not plentiful, those who did comment on Edwards’s early exit from that Clippers game showed little concern or compassion for the Minnesota Timberwolves leading scorer. I could almost read the ‘just rub some dirt in it,’ comments between the lines.  But that injury has reared its ugly head once more:

And so, the Timberwolves must walk a very thin line right now. With the team still in need of victories, the temptation to rely too heavily upon Anthony Edwards is quite high right now. But Edwards is still smarting from a horrendous fall suffered nearly two weeks ago, and the team cannot give in to that temptation to work him too hard.

In the end, the Timberwolves need wins but must be willing to sit Edwards if and once the game is under control. That’s a narrow path to walk, but one the Timberwolves must take to get A1 healthy once more.