PHOENIX - All the other players had headed to the locker room Thursday night and only arena security, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards remained on the floor at Phoenix Suns Arena. After postgame handshakes, the two found each other near midcourt and exchanged a hearty embrace.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards combine for 83 points to lead Timberwolves over Phoenix
Rookie had 42 and veteran had 41 as the Wolves rallied to beat the Suns
By Star Tribune and
Chris Hine
March 19, 2021 at 11:30AM
The two had just spearheaded one of the most memorable and improbable moments of a dreary Timberwolves season as they erased a 15-point second-half deficit in a 123-119 victory over Phoenix. Even though the Wolves will be on this same floor Friday night, Towns and Edwards were going to take a moment to celebrate.
"I just want to celebrate with him as much as possible. It's a special moment," Towns said.
Their celebration carried over to the scorer's table as Edwards waited to do postgame media, with Towns acting like Edwards' hype man as they slapped five multiple times.
"It's always happiness when we're winning," Edwards said. "Me and Kat were just expressing our feelings of winning after the game."
Edwards scored a career-high 42 points and Towns added 41 to become just the second duo in Wolves history to score more than 40 points each after Towns and Andrew Wiggins did it in a loss in 2017.
"Unbelievably special," Wolves coach Chris Finch said. "They were carrying us. We tried to get some other guys into the game."
That took almost three quarters as it seemed like Edwards and Towns were playing 2-on-5 most of the night. They combined to take 55 of the Wolves' 93 shots.
"Whoa, 55 of them?" a surprised Towns exclaimed afterward.
But after getting key contributions from Naz Reid (10 points) and Juancho Hernangomez (14 points, including 12 in the second half), who broke free off an inbound pass for a dunk to ice the game with 4.7 seconds remaining, the Wolves pulled it together in time to defeat one of the best teams in the Western Conference.
"We know that part of our approach now is our future success starts now," Finch said. "And we've got to try to put these guys into a position to grow into their role, what we think their ultimate role will be. We love Ant's fearlessness. He has the ability, and playing next to KAT, they've got a nice little combination going."
Before the season began, Edwards (15 of 31) said he needed time to learn how best to play off Towns. It seemed like they figured a few things out.
Perhaps no sequence showed that as well as the moment the Wolves tied the score. Towns and Edwards ran a pick-and-roll up top and two defenders trailed Edwards as he went left. Towns was open toward the right wing for a three-pointer. Edwards gave Towns a no-look pass and Towns, who overcame his recent shooting struggles, drained it to tie the score at 107. Towns added 10 rebounds and eight assists.
"We're starting to figure out what each other like," Edwards said. "I figured out how he likes to catch the ball, how I like to catch the ball. We kind of just play off each other. One got it going, we feed him. If the other got it going, we feed him."
They both had it going Thursday. There was no wrong answer on which player to pick to feed down the stretch as both hit key buckets, with a key Hernangomez three sprinkled in.
"It's kind of fun playing with Kat, not going to lie," Edwards said. "It was extremely fun."
Added Towns: "The two-man game was running amazing tonight."
The Wolves are used to getting production from Towns to the point it can become easy to take nights such as Thursday for granted. Edwards, meanwhile, has taken off in the second half of the season and set a career high for the second time in a week after scoring 34 on Sunday in a win over Portland.
"Work always shows," Edwards said. "I work in the dark, and it should come to the light."
Edwards enjoyed the spotlight. After the game, a smattering of Wolves fans remained as Edwards handed his jersey to his brother in the crowd and gave out his shoes to some kids. One fan from the crowd yelled, "He's only 19."
"It's coming together for him," Towns said. "It's a beautiful thing to watch and a beautiful thing to be a part of."
The players communicated through a group text chain to pull themselves out of a four-game losing streak. But the thread is used for other ways to bond and build camaraderie.
