Anthony Edwards said Thursday he doesn't play basketball to pass away the ball when defenses are focusing on him. He showed it on Saturday.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star scored a career-high 53 points on Saturday, which represented the majority of his team's scoring total in a 119-105 loss to the Detroit Pistons. Edwards also finished the game with two assists and six turnovers.
Edwards also accounted for 16 of Minnesota's 34 field goals, and 31 of their 80 attempts.
It was a miserable game throughout for the Timberwolves, who leaned on Edwards even more than the final numbers suggest. At one point, he had 43 of their 68 points, and didn't record his second assist until the last three minutes of the game. The Pistons were up double digits by the first few minutes of the second quarter, and led by as many as 24 points in the third.
The loss is a distillation of the problems that have plagued the Timberwolves since they traded away Karl-Anthony Towns and bet big on Edwards as their offense's first — and, frankly, second — option. The team's record now sits at 17-17, while Edwards has publicly expressed frustration with how many double teams he is experiencing.
After a loss to the Boston Celtics Thursday, Edwards said he wasn't having fun having to pass out of double teams and that he was still trying to figure out what to do. He also made very clear he would rather not pass:
"That's a good brand of basketball, but it's not how I want to play, of course. I'm only 23, I don't want to just be passing the ball all night. ... But the way that they're guarding me, I think I have to."
The Pistons might have been listening.
