Anthony Edwards announced to the San Antonio Spurs he had returned – not that anyone in the sold-out Frost Bank Center needed to be told.
The Timberwolves guard made an unexpected return 10 days after hyperextending his left knee, leading Minnesota to a 104-102 victory on Monday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference semi-finals.
After hitting his first three-pointer with 1:27 remaining in the first quarter, Edwards turned to the Spurs bench and screamed: “I’m back! I’m back!”
They were already fully aware.
The four-time All-Star had 18 points, including 11 in the final quarter as the Timberwolves held on to hand the Spurs just the second loss in their past 17 series openers at home.
“That’s kind of who he is,” San Antonio guard Dylan Harper said. “Superstar in this league. He’s going to come back and have games like that even though he hasn’t played for a little bit.”
Edwards, who averaged 36.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in three games against the Spurs this season, has stated previously that he enjoys competing against San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama. They had another duel in Game 1. Wembanyama had 11 points, 15 rebounds and set an NBA postseason record with 12 blocked shots.
“I don’t think me coming back was because of nothing they got going on,” Edwards said. “It was more so I want to be out there with my brothers. Yeah, just that simple.”
Edwards was expected to miss at least the first two games of the series in San Antonio, but the guard expedited his rehabilitation to play in the opener. He was cleared to play 90 minutes before the scheduled tipoff Monday night when Minnesota coach Chris Finch simply said: “He’s in.”
“He loves to play the game,” Finch said. “We dodged a bullet when it happened. He’s done an incredible job. Our medical staff has done an unbelievable job of getting him to this point. And he was super motivated by the fact that we were able to get that first series. I think that was kind of a little bit of an inspiration for him, too, just gave him something to work towards.”
Edwards suffered a bone bruise, in addition to hyperextending his left knee, on 25 April during Game 4 of Minnesota’s opening-round series against Denver.
“I think I got the best physical therapist in the world with David Hines,” Edwards said of the Timberwolves’ vice-president of medical operations and performance. “So, just trusting him and working through all the pain that I felt throughout the first two days, three days, and just getting in the pool, running on it. Band work. Just a lot of resistance. So, yeah, he got me right.”
Wembanyama was confident his team can come back in the series.
“We have to be better,” Wembanyama said. “It shows up on the stat sheet. We need to figure out before 48 hours what we can do better and I’ve got no doubt that we will. I trust us.”
Philadelphia 76ers 98-137 New York Knicks
In Monday’s other game, Jalen Brunson scored 27 of his 35 points in the first half and the New York Knicks emphatically added to a historic postseason roll by overwhelming the Philadelphia 76ers 137-98 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
The Knicks became the first team in NBA history to win three straight postseason games by at least 25 points, continuing a wave that began midway through the first round against Atlanta by shooting 63% from the field and leading by 40 points.
OG Anunoby added 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting, while Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges both had 17, with Towns adding six rebounds and six assists in just 20 minutes.
After trailing 2-1 against Atlanta, the Knicks have won four straight games by a total of 135 points. They are the first team since detailed play-by-play began in 1996-97 to lead three straight playoff games by at least 30 points, according to Sportradar.
Game 2 is on Wednesday night before the series shifts to Philadelphia – with Joel Embiid already pleading with 76ers fans not to sell their tickets to Knicks fans.
