The Minnesota Timberwolves seem to be snakebit this season. It’s the old song “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” phenomenon, as the Timberwolves have lost another star in the 2022-23 NBA season due to injury. This time, the Timberwolves roster will have to find a way to compete without All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards, perhaps for a prolonged period of time.
The Timberwolves lost Edwards early in the game against the Chicago Bulls, with Anthony Edwards recording just eight minutes of playing time in the Friday, March 17, 2023 contest. Despite the injury to Ant-Man, the Timberwolves followed an all-too-familiar script of holding the lead in the game through three-quarters of play, only to become listless in the fourth and final quarter with the game on the line, allowing the Bulls to rally to a 33-23 fourth-quarter advantage.
That tied the score up in regulation play, but the Timberwolves could only keep pace with their opponents through one overtime period. In the second overtime period, the Timberwolves collapsed as the Bulls, powered by the energy of their home court fans, moved ahead to finally win the game by an eight-point advantage.
And that was just the beginning of the bad news. Anthony Edwards has not played since the injury.
Rudy Gobert on Anthony Edwards's ankle injury:
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) March 18, 2023
"He hasn't missed a game all year, so you know he's not making shit up. He's really hurt. I don't know how bad it is, but I hope we can get him back really soon."
But not all hope is lost. Anthony Edwards continues to heal like the superhero Wolverine, and he is now reportedly possibly playing as soon as Wednesday night:
"Right now the swelling is going down in his sprained ankle...I think there's optimism that he could be back on Wednesday from what I'm hearing."
— The Rally (@TheRally) March 20, 2023
NBA Insider @ShamsCharania provides an update on Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. pic.twitter.com/Je2FUU9EvY
Wednesday is the Minnesota Timberwolves hosting the Atlanta Hawks at Target Center. A return by Anthony Edwards would be an incredible emotional boost for the Timberwolves roster, a team that has stared into the abyss time and time again, only to turn back snarling and with more fight than ever.
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But the time to regroup is running out. With just nine games remaining on the Timberwolves schedule, there are no more opportunities to realign this team. It’s now an ‘As-Is,’ team, with healing players coming back and playing to the best of their ability with whatever minutes they are awarded. It’s now all about winning.
Ideally, Edwards comes back when he truly is healed, not simply as soon as he can withstand the weight on his injured ankle. But I fear it is more of the latter. Meanwhile, we continue to await, and hope for, the return of the injured Karl-Anthony Towns. The latest update from Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly stated in no uncertain terms that Karl-Anthony’s return is “imminent”
“We’re extremely excited that his return is imminent.” — Tim Connelly on Karl-Anthony Towns, who details the last four months here with @TheAthletic https://t.co/QNFLrINSq2
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) March 21, 2023
If the Timberwolves could somehow welcome back both Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards Wednesday night against the visiting Atlanta Hawks, that would be huge for the team and the faithful Minnesota Timberwolves fans. Will it happen? Well, with the streak of bad luck that this team has had to overcome all season, a bit of good luck is long overdue.