For Anthony Edwards and the Wolves, Game 3 win was more than just a win

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MINNEAPOLIS — Moments after plunging the dagger into the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Edwards bounded euphorically toward the sideline seats where his older brother, Bubba, and best friend, Nick Maddox, take in every Minnesota Timberwolves home game.

It took him five skips to cross the hardwood and meet his crew and the sea of Wolves fans screaming at the top of their lungs. Each time he hopped into the air, he may as well have been jumping over one of the team’s many clutch-time failures, leaving them all behind in the din of Target Center. Each spring forward brought these fans a little closer to believing their team is capable of taking down LeBron James, Luka Dončić and the team that left them for Los Angeles 65 years ago.

MOOOODDDD!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/6jblDigQdy

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 26, 2025

Edwards stood, arms outstretched, soaking in the triumph. The 116-104 victory Friday night put Minnesota up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series may have just been one more in the race to four, but it also felt so much bigger for these Timberwolves.

It is one thing to win in a rout, as they did in Game 1 in Los Angeles, when seemingly everything broke their way. It is an entirely different achievement to look James and Dončić in the eyes during the pressure cooker of crunch time and live to tell about it.

The game was tied at 103 with 4:37 remaining, exactly the kind of scenario the Wolves wanted to avoid against these hardened playoff vets. Edwards, despite being one of the finalists for the league’s Clutch Player of the Year, and the Timberwolves have been terrible in those situations all season long, the biggest reason they entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed and not much higher. Their 26 clutch-time losses were second only to Miami. They entered the playoffs with top-10 rankings in offensive and defensive efficiency but were 20th in clutch offense and 24th in clutch defense.

Add to it that James was making everything in sight, including three 3-pointers in the fourth, and Game 3 had the makings of yet another home playoff failure for Minnesota, which lost five of its last six at home in last year’s postseason run — including three to Dončić’s Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.

Instead, Friday was their most impressive win of the season.

“To come out with a win in a game like that, those are the ones you really hang on to,” guard Mike Conley said. “It was an important one. Game 3 was a very, very important game for us, and we wanted to come out and get it at home.”

The Wolves closed the game on a 13-1 run, something few believed they could pull off against the Lakers, even with Dončić battling a stomach bug. Edwards came out of the timeout with just over four minutes to play and broke the 103-103 tie with a 3. He then grabbed the rebound of a Rui Hachimura miss, surged up the court and found Naz Reid for another 3. Then, Edwards blew by James to the rim for a layup and a 111-104 lead.

Anthony Edwards blows by LeBron James for the clutch layup pic.twitter.com/fRbsjeX2ig

— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 26, 2025

From there came the capper, a toe-on-the-line jumper from 24 feet out that gave the Wolves a nine-point lead with 1:06 remaining. When it was over, the Wolves had outscored the Lakers 30-20 in the fourth quarter, shot 54.5 percent from the field — including 56 percent from 3 — and held Los Angeles to 35 percent shooting to close out the game.

“Our best closing effort of the year, no doubt,” coach Chris Finch said. “Both sides of the ball.”

Jaden McDaniels hit all three of his shots in the fourth, scoring eight of his career-high 30 points while locking down Dončić, who ripped the hearts out of the Timberwolves during a masterclass in last year’s conference finals. Dončić had four points in the fourth and scored 17 on 6-for-16 shooting in the game, while also committing five turnovers in 40 minutes. Dončić usually is the one making Wolves fans sick with his bloodthirsty shot making at Target Center, but Lakers coach J.J. Redick said Dončić had been vomiting for most of the day.

McDaniels said he didn’t know Dončić was sick, such is the respect that the Wolves have for him. He chased Dončić for 38 minutes Friday night, using his length to hound him and his quick feet to stay in front of him. On top of his defense, McDaniels made 13 of 22 shots in what is quickly becoming his breakout series. He scored 25 points in Game 1.

“Just a monster. … It couldn’t come at a better time,” Finch said. “In the flow of everything, (Edwards) was super aggressive. We found him.”

Edwards finished with 29 points and hit five 3s. He also added eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Most importantly, the ball was in his hands the entirety of the final four minutes, and he made the right reads and decisions every time. He played 9:26 in the fourth quarter without a turnover and made one of the plays of the game with a steal and soaring dunk over Dončić in the third quarter.

TYPICAL 🐜 pic.twitter.com/BkSCUp1CjS

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 26, 2025

“He was incredible,” Rudy Gobert said. “His leadership, watching his understanding of the game, how he’s growing, how he’s learning. It’s cool to see.”

There has been so much discussion about how having two days off between Games 1 and 2 and Games 2 and 3 was beneficial for the 40-year-old James, who was solid Friday with 38 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. No player in NBA history knows the ins and outs of a playoff series better than James, and he threw everything he had at Minnesota to get Game 3, as there is little time to rest before Game 4 Sunday afternoon. James played 41 minutes, hit five 3s and blocked two shots, a gargantuan effort that was necessary with Dončić ailing.

“He did everything he could in his power to try to will them to a win,” Edwards said of James. “He was shooting from Yucatan. He was shooting it crazy.”

The Timberwolves could have knelt before the king. Instead, they banded together and rode selflessness to the finish.

Gobert did not take a shot in 25:32 and only had one point and three rebounds in the game and sat for all but 45 seconds of the fourth quarter. But he made a few huge defensive plays, including grabbing a shot from Dorian Finney-Smith out of the air to set up an Edwards dunk in the first half. And in a moment that could go viral, Gobert was guarding Dončić in isolation at the top of the arc and picked his pocket clean to get McDaniels an and-1 opportunity.

Rudy Gobert isolation steal on Luka Doncic, leading to the Jaden McDaniels transition layup through contact pic.twitter.com/8iKjaEGgw5

— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 26, 2025

Conley only played 21 minutes, but he went 4-for-6 from the field and even out-hustled James and Dončić for an offensive rebound and jumper that got the crowd going. Donte DiVincenzo was just 4-for-13 from the field, but he had five rebounds and three blocks — two against James — and was on the floor with the closing lineup.

Julius Randle had 22 points, five rebounds and four assists and almost singlehandedly kept the Timberwolves in the game in the first half when the rest of his teammates couldn’t find their shot. The Wolves were 4-for-17 from deep in the first half and trailed by four at the break. They went 9-for-19 in the second half.

The Wolves only turned the ball over 11 times while forcing the Lakers into 19 turnovers, which Minnesota turned into 28 points. The turnover discrepancy contributed to the Wolves taking 13 more shots, which helped them overcome 17 made 3s by the Lakers. They outscored Los Angeles 56-26 in the paint and 21-11 in transition.

“I just think our trust in coach is extremely high. He wants to win, and everybody in the locker room wants to win, as well,” Randle said. “That’s all it’s about right now. It’s not about egos, or minutes, shots. None of that stuff matters.”

Target Center also deserves some credit. The crowd in Los Angeles got loud at times in the first two games, but it was nothing compared to the roar that engulfed the second-oldest arena in the league for Game 3. Finch’s voice in his postgame press conference was hoarse because of the yelling needed during the game and in his huddles. Conley said he barely heard from Lakers fans in the stands.

“I’ve been on a lot of teams where they come in for a home game and it feels like a road game, because they have so many fans,” Conley said. “I was proud of the way that our fans showed out, showed up, kept us going and motivated, and I’m looking forward to Game 4.”

Edwards said he couldn’t hear plays being called from the sideline.

“I couldn’t hear nothing; it was so loud in there,” he said. “That was probably the most fun I’ve had in Target Center, for sure.”

As delighted as everyone was to win in the fashion they did, the Wolves know they are only halfway to winning this series. They believe they are the bigger, deeper team, but they also know that all that noise may have only awoken the beasts inside James and Dončić, who likely will feel better on Sunday.

As he got dressed in front of his locker, Conley couldn’t hide his smile. He is in his 18th season and knows there aren’t many of these chances left for him. He knows how talented this team is and how good it can be if it can just stop getting out of its own way. Game 3 marked a big step, or maybe a skip, forward in that process. He hopes all the losses late in games earlier this season are finally sinking in for Edwards.

“Hopefully,” Conley said, “this is one of many more opportunities for him.”

(Photo of Anthony Edwards: David Berding / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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