Since Anthony Edwards has been sidelined with a right knee injury, the Minnesota Timberwolves have gone 4-1. That includes Wednesday’s unbelievable comeback in overtime against the Houston Rockets.
Minnesota has been doing impressive work without its superstar. Of course, Ant-Man will be needed, though, for them to go as far as they can go in the playoffs. On Wednesday, Shams Charania reported on ESPN’s NBA Countdown that Edwards’ return could be right around the corner by stating,
"I’m told that the Timberwolves will be evaluating Anthony Edwards day-to-day moving forward, so he could return as soon as Saturday’s game against the Pistons at home, or Monday in Dallas."
With just nine regular season games remaining, it would be a lovely sight to see Ant back for the Timberwolves' next outing on Saturday (or soon after).
Ant-Man's return may be mere days away
I’m sure Edwards would love to return Saturday for a nationally-televised game on ABC. It would also come at a time when Minnesota hopes to move up in the standings prior to the postseason.
Currently in fifth, the Timberwolves are 45-28. Of course, a top-four seed gets you the homecourt advantage for at least the opening round of the playoffs, and Ant could be back to help them do so. Minnesota also still has a pathway to moving up to third by the end of the regular season.
At the moment, Minnesota is just a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets (46-28) and two games behind the Los Angeles Lakers (47-26). Unfortunately for the Wolves, both of those clubs won the head-to-head regular season series against Minnesota, and thus own the tiebreaker over them.
Not only will Edwards' return help in their chase to at least move up to fourth, but it will also allow Ant the opportunity to make an All-NBA team for the third-straight year. He can only miss one more game this year for it to be possible for him to be on one of the three teams. Ant would certainly be included on one of the teams as long as he is eligible.
Edwards last played on March 15 in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 58 games this season, he is averaging 29.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.4 steals. Now in his sixth season, Ant's scoring average is a career-high, and he also has career-best shooting marks of 49.2 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from 3-point distance.