Anthony Edwards soldiers through back spasms to lead Timberwolves: ‘I’m in pain’

PORTLAND, ORE. – Anthony Edwards sat at his locker with tape wrapped around his lower back after the Timberwolves’ 118-114 victory over Portland on Wednesday night.

He had entered the day a true game-time decision after popping up on the injury report Tuesday because of back spasms. When Edwards got out of bed before coming to the arena, “I told them I wasn’t gonna be able to go,” he said.

Then he went through a workout and got treatment from David Hines, the team’s vice president of medical operations and performance, a man who has worked closely with Edwards his whole career.

Edwards said he calls Hines “Mr. Miyagi,” in reference to Pat Morita’s character in the film “The Karate Kid.”

“After Mr. Miyagi did a couple things on my back, I was good,” he said.

They needed him to be Wednesday. For all the preseason talk of the things the Wolves want to do this season — develop young players, get out more in transition — Wednesday’s victory was a reminder of two truths about this team: The Wolves will go as far as their defense allows them, and as far as Edwards can carry them on his back, spasms and all.

The Wolves played a physical, ugly game (19 turnovers) against Portland, but they came out with a win behind fourth-quarter defense and 41 points from Edwards, 10 of those in the fourth.

Edwards hit a three to put the Wolves up 114-112 with 1 minute, 14 seconds to play before clinching the game doing something he said he worked on all summer — improving his midrange game. The other four Wolves went flat on the baseline to allow Edwards room to operate against his former college teammate at Georgia, Portland’s Toumani Camara. Edwards drove down the left wing and stepped back for a 21-footer that was dead on.

“It felt super comfortable,” Edwards said. “My man, [Wolves assistant coach Chris Hines], the third, fourth workout of the day, we’re all middies. I be super tired, no legs, so I’m used to shooting that shot. Definitely a little more juice going against [Camara], for sure.”

The Wolves likely aren’t in that position to win the game if not for finally finding their footing on defense in the fourth quarter.

“We were talking, communicating. Rudy [Gobert] was the anchor, he was talking to everybody, ‘Cutter, Ant! Box your man out.’ Everybody was on one chord. If we talk like that on the defensive end, we’re going to get a lot of stops.”

After allowing open driving to Portland for chunks of the night, the Wolves contained the ball better in the fourth in allowing just 19 points, their best defensive quarter of the evening.

The Wolves know what they can expect out of Edwards. They know what they can expect out of their defense. What may be murkier after Wednesday is their point guard position.

Finch decided to start Donte DiVincenzo over Mike Conley. DiVincenzo struggled with Portland’s pressure and had seven points and six turnovers. He played just 4:30 in the second half. Conley played just 13 minutes overall and was 1-for-5 from the floor.

“There’s a lot of things that went into it,” Finch said. “I thought [Donte] had a really good preseason. Mostly it’s strategic around Mike. It’s a lot easier to manage Mike’s impact and minutes in the game over a 36-minute span than it is over a 48-minute span. It allows us to get to different lineup combinations and maybe maximize things around him and Rudy and other lineups.”

Finch said the move was “something I’ve been thinking about for a little while.” The Wolves had an audition with that lineup last season when DiVincenzo started 10 games before a turf toe injury sidelined him for several weeks.

“We’ve done it in consultation with everybody, Mike included,” Finch said. “Mike was all for it as you would expect him to be. He’s a team-first guy. This is not an indication on Mike Conley’s performance in the preseason or where we feel he is as a player. It’s just the best way to maximize his minutes without having him sit for a long period of time in the middle of the game.”

“It’s early on still. As you see, I’m gonna leave myself license to go anywhere I want with the guys,” Finch said. “That includes who we might start, who we might finish with, who we play along the way. Everybody has to stay ready. Everyone’s going to contribute to winning here.”

That was true of a lot of Wolves on Wednesday. Jaden McDaniels (18 points) had a key three in the fourth quarter. Gobert had a putback dunk and anchored the defense well when he was on the floor. Randle (19 points) saved the game from careening off the rails when Portland had momentum. And then there was Edwards, shaking off those back spasms to get the Wolves across the finish line.