Golden State opened Wednesday night’s game against Minnesota on a 13-0 run, and the Warriors led by 24 after one quarter. Minnesota fought back to make it a one-point game at the end, but Golden State left Minneapolis with a 116-115 win.
After the game, a frustrated Anthony Edwards unleashed on himself and the starting five for letting the team down.
“The starting five, we are terrible. Every game we come out low energy and the second group comes in and gives us energy. I would say the starting group gotta come out with more energy like we want to play the game of basketball, like we love the game.”
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch changed up the starting lineup six games ago, moving Donte DiVincenzo in with the starters and having veteran point guard Mike Conley come off the bench. The Timberwolves starting five — DiVincenzo, Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert — has a +10.3 net rating in those six games (although this lineup has a -4.3 net rating for the season). Minnesota is 4-2 since the change.
This is not the first time Edwards has ripped the Timberwolves play this season to reporters. Last month, after a frustrating loss, he said, “We don’t have s*** on offense. We don’t have no identity. We know I’m gonna shoot a bunch of shots, we know Ju gonna shoot a bunch of shots, and that’s all we know.”
That frustration is tied to expectations. Minnesota reached the Western Conference Finals a season ago, but this season — after trading away Karl-Anthony Towns for Randle in a long-term cost-saving move — they sit eighth in the West with a top-10 defense but a 17th-ranked offense holding them back. Edwards expected himself to take a step forward coming off helping the USA win gold in the Paris Olympics, and for his team to do the same. None of that has happened, and Edwards is frustrated. And he’s letting people know about it.
