Despite his near triple-double, Anthony Edwards calls $131,000,000 wing 'MVP' of massive Game 1 win
Anthony Edwards came up big for the Minnesota Timberwolves in their dominant 117-95 win over the LA Lakers in Game 1 of their first-round series — but in his eyes, he wasn’t the star of the night. That honor, he said, belonged to Jaden McDaniels, who paced the team in scoring.
Edwards put up 22 points, and while he struggled with efficiency — going just 8-of-22 from the field — he nearly notched a triple-double with nine assists and eight boards. Still, for Edwards, the night belonged to McDaniels, who matched his career playoff high with 25 points on a blistering 11-for-13 shooting clip.
Speaking after the game, Anthony Edwards narrated how the Timberwolves have been pushing McDaniels to adopt an MVP mentality on both offense and defense — and to ignore the soft coverages the Lakers dared him with.
“We tell him every game, ‘Be the MVP of the game on both sides of the ball,’” Edwards told the ESPN broadcast. “We knew in this series, (the Lakers) were gonna bank on him not staying aggressive the whole night.
“We told him all week, ‘Be aggressive for all four quarters. Don’t stop shooting, pick your spots, trust yourself, trust your work’ — and he did just that. And here he is, the MVP of the night.”
McDaniels, in the first year of his five-year, $131 million deal with Minnesota, also shot a perfect 3-for-3 from deep, helping the Timberwolves go 21-for-42 from 3 as a team.
Naz Reid led the long-range attack by going 6-for-9 from beyond the arc, while Julius Randle and Edwards each chipped in four made 3s.
Naz Reid praises Anthony Edwards' leadership
Anthony Edwards handing off MVP honors to Jaden McDaniels after Game 1 could easily be seen as a sign of leadership — and Naz Reid made it clear postgame that Edwards’ presence goes well beyond scoring.
"How he's been leading us, as young as he is, is kinda crazy to me," Reid said postgame. "You'd think he's 30. Seriously. Just how vocal he is, he wants to win, you can tell, he's desperate. He wants his teammates to do well."
Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves opened the playoffs on a high note, cruising past the LA Lakers even as Luka Doncic poured in 37 points. They limited LeBron James to 19 points on 8-for-18 shooting.
Per SportsCenter, the Lakers' 95 points marked their lowest total in any of the 24 games LeBron and Doncic have played together.
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s 22-point victory stands as LeBron’s largest Game 1 defeat in any first-round series throughout his career.