Chris Finch shines light on Anthony Edwards' growth in late-game decisions

Edwards was bad in clutch time on Sunday night, but he's come a long way in that area.

Dec 6, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) celebrates after making a three point basket against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

Anthony Edwards sunk the Timberwolves with poor shot selection and general decision-making in the final five minutes of Sunday night's loss to the Warriors, but head coach Chris Finch is pleased with the overall way he's performed in those situations this season.

"To put everything in context, the last few days since that game, we went back and looked at all of his clutch-time decision-making this season," Finch said on Wednesday. "And he graded out at about 80 percent. In our mind, subjectively, putting our eyes on it, we felt that he has made the right play 80 percent of the time, which is great."

Earlier in his career, games like Sunday were commonplace for Edwards. His talent was undeniable, but his shot selection in key situations could be frustrating and he often struggled to make the right read when multiple defenders came at him. Finch said he really noticed a shift in Ant's approach last season.

"That switch started to happen I think mid-to-late last year, knowing that in the playoffs, it was coming," he said. "He did a really good job, I thought, in those early playoff series, of creating offense, making the right play, and then letting the game come to him as it did. I think he just got a little excited, got probably in a little bit of a personal battle the other night, and I think that's where the regret comes. It's good growth in the recognition of it, that it wasn't just about missing shots."

Edwards declined to speak to reporters after the game in San Francisco, but he was overheard being self-critical as Julius Randle spoke. He knows he took too many difficult shots with teammates open elsewhere.

Still, as Finch notes, that hasn't usually been the case this season. By their own charting, four out of every five decisions made by Edwards in the clutch this year has been the right one, which represents significant improvement from even this time last season.

"I would say 80 percent's a pretty good grade, to be honest with you," Finch said. "You do want that to keep climbing higher and higher, but I would say if you go back a year or so ago, that was probably in the 50 percent range."

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