Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards displays growth and maturity, even when shot isn’t falling

When Anthony Edwards’ shots didn’t fall Tuesday, the Timberwolves All-Star guard turned playmaker and chief decision maker as well.

Edwards shot only 3-for-12 from the field, but he had eight assists, three steals and three turnovers, too, in a 105-93 victory that sends the Wolves to Phoenix on Friday leading 2-0 in their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series.

Edwards scored 15 points in Game 2, and seven of those points came on free throws after a 33-point performance in Game 1. He had three assists in the second and third quarters each.

“The fact we won Game 2 the way we did with Ant not being our leading scorer, which he has been for a lot of games, maybe the past consecutive games, it shows he was more concerned with winning,” Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker said before the team flew to Arizona on Thursday. “He wasn’t fighting the game. It wasn’t about trying to get the rhythm going. He trusted us and everybody was making the right plays. To Ant’s growth, it comes down to make the right reads and making the right plays.”

Wolves coach Chris Finch praised Edwards’ ability and willingness to find open teammates when the Suns double-teamed him and instructed them to shoot their shot.

“I thought he kept making the right play over and over and over again,” Finch said. “These experiences layer on top of each other for him. In the first half in particular, we got a lot of great shots. They just didn’t go in. He was excited about that. At halftime, he kept encouraging his teammates to shoot.

“We’ve seen him in these playoffs become a more vocal Ant. He has gotten better and better all year long. But even more now, with the confidence he keeps giving his teammates.”

Point guard Mike Conley called Edwards’ Game 2 performance evidence of his growth as a creator who is learning in his fourth NBA season how to disarm defenses committed to stopping him.

“It’s a lot of growth in his IQ level,” said Conley, a 17-year pro. “He’s able to read situations and not get upset when he hasn’t had a shot because they’re doubling him. He’s understanding making that pass to me or [center Karl-Anthony Towns] or Nickeil on the weakside allows us to make a play. He looks up and we win the game. You saw how happy he is when we won the game. That kind of attitude is huge for us as a team and it’s going to propel us to whatever goals we’re trying to achieve.”

Suns guard Grayson Allen on Thursday told Phoenix reporters his injured ankle feels “better than I thought.”

He aggravated a right ankle injury from Game 1 on Sunday in the third quarter of Tuesday’s Game 2, and it didn’t look good. He left Game 1 after he went 0-for-3 in 25 minutes; he played only 17 minutes in Game 2, scoring three points.

“I thought it was going to hurt a lot,” he said. “It feels pretty good.” He didn’t practice fully Thursday, ran on the water treadmill and called himself questionable for Game 3.

Asked how Allen’s absence could affect the series, Alexander-Walker said: “You never know. You don’t want to speak too soon because a lot of guys get their opportunity from that, myself included.”

Finch said forward Kyle Anderson’s status for Game 3 is to be determined. He played fewer than five minutes in Game 1 and left because of a hip pointer. He was active and on the bench Tuesday but did not play.

“He has been able to go through all of practice,” Finch said Thursday. “We haven’t had a lot of contact in practice, so that’s where we will see what he’s able to do when we get out to Phoenix.”

Finch said his team needs to be the most desperate team in Game 3.

When asked how, he said: “We still haven’t done what we set out to do, which is win the series. Everything is there. We know it’s coming. We have to be ready for it and guard against human nature. Keep the hunger, the edge and the willingness to prove ourselves.”