NEW ORLEANS – Anthony Edwards was one of the reasons the Timberwolves came back after being down most of the second half in their 128-125 loss to the Pelicans.
Despite 20-point fourth quarter, Anthony Edwards blames himself for Timberwolves loss
Edwards was disappointed with his effort in the first half and said it cost the Wolves in their loss to the Pelicans.
January 12, 2022 at 1:31PM
Edwards scored 20 of his 28 in the fourth quarter to lead the Wolves' charge as they tied the score on D'Angelo Russell's runner with 3.6 seconds remaining.
But after the game Edwards said he was to blame for the Wolves being in the bad position they were in the first place.
"I blame myself …" Edwards said. "I just wasn't playing at all. It would be different if I was taking shots. I wasn't taking shots, I wasn't being aggressive, I wasn't making plays. I wasn't doing anything. I was just out there."
Edwards didn't score in the first quarter and had no rebounds. By halftime he had eight points and just two rebounds. He didn't really get going until the fourth and when he did get going the Wolves almost roared all the way back if not for New Orleans hitting all five of its three-pointers in the fourth, the last one from Brandon Ingram to win the game.
"I've just got to be aggressive from the tip," Edwards said. "I can't come out here waiting. There's nothing to wait on. I've got to come out there and be aggressive, be assertive and be me."
When asked why he thought he came out flat, Edwards responded: "I really can't give you an answer for that. I just wasn't there first half, wasn't there at all."
He finished 10 of 21 from the floor, which included 6 of 12 from three-point range. He also didn't have a turnover past the second quarter. But Edwards' slow start wasn't the only problem for the Wolves. Their defense was a step slow most of the night and New Orleans raced out to 28 fast-break points.
Karl-Anthony Towns said the Wolves got too complacent with the recent four-game win streak.
"We can't get to four and act like it's cool and we're just going to be given games," Towns said. "We ain't going to be given no games in this league. Timberwolves ain't done much of anything in how long? We ain't getting no respect.
"Ain't no one giving us respect. We've got to go earn it every single night. Can't be four, can't be five, can't be six. We've got to be 10-plus. We should be looking at it like that. We should never be looking to lose games the way we lost tonight."
Edwards took a lot of that on his shoulders.
"It's one of them things where I'm like, 'I'm just going to tell coach to take me out,' you know? You've got to find a way to get yourself going," Edwards said. "I think I did that, but I think it was too late."
Coach Chris Finch said the team reviewed film of every Edwards play in clutch time this season, and he graded out fairly well.
