Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards said knee injury was 'hurting, hurting, hurting'

In the first quarter of the Timberwolves' 132-102 victory over Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, Anthony Edwards stole the ball from Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and sprinted down the court for a dunk.

The injured left knee that kept Edwards out of the previous four games, the first games he has missed in his career because of physical injury, looked just fine as he soared to the hoop and landed without a wince of pain.

That may not always be the case because Edwards' injury, left knee tendinopathy, appears to be one he will have to manage the rest of the season and potentially play through some pain.

"It's something that you can play through," Edwards said. "Certain people can play through it, but if you don't have a certain tolerance for pain, you can't play through that."

Edwards, who said he has not been injured much in his athletic career, is going to try to play as much as possible. After scoring 16 points in his return on 7-for-15 shooting, Edwards said recently he felt a "big knot just hurting, hurting, hurting" and it became too much.

"That joint was just throbbing on my knee, right by my kneecap," he said.

Edwards said he would start games fine, but just a few minutes into a night he would start feeling pain.

"It would start off good, then three to four minutes into the game, hurting, hurting, hurting for the rest of the game," he said. "And I be in trouble because I can't really do nothing, for real."

Edwards' numbers took a hit as he tried to play through the injury. In the five games before he sat out, he averaged just 10.4 points per game on 29% shooting. Edwards is shooting 43% for the season, which includes 35% on 8.5 three-point attempts per game.

The Wolves and Edwards then made the decision to give him some rest, and the light schedule made that decision a little easier. The Wolves didn't lose with Edwards out and have won six straight overall. He said Wednesday he felt fine.

"It didn't bother me at all today, so that's a great sign," Edwards said.

He said he'll continue to get treatment on it going forward.

"I've got to sleep a little earlier so I can get to the gym on time for treatment," Edwards said. "But it's all good. It's to get me back to 100 percent and I'm all with it."

There's a reason Edwards wanted to come back Wednesday. He was looking ahead on the schedule. He knows coming up is a game at Miami, a team the Wolves beat in an intense game at Target Center in November. Edwards and former Wolves forward Jimmy Butler had a few words for each other during that game. Edwards wants to make sure he's ready for the rematch.

"I know that's a big game," Edwards said. "I thought this game was the perfect game for me to go out there and get all the rust out."