Anthony Edwards Takes Responsibility Again After Wolves Fall in OKC

One thing that's always been true about Anthony Edwards is that he isn't afraid to step up and put it on him when things don't go well for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Earlier this week, after the Wolves allowed a franchise-record 153 points in a blowout loss to the Clippers, Edwards said "I just gotta be better" and "everything is about me." Minnesota then snapped out of a three-game skid on Friday night with a win over an injury-ravaged Warriors team. But the struggles returned on Sunday, as the Wolves committed a whopping 25 turnovers and fell apart down the stretch in a loss to the Thunder.

Sitting in the postgame locker room in Oklahoma City, Edwards once again took responsibility for the loss. He had a tough afternoon, scoring 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the floor and 5-of-10 shooting from the free throw line. He also had a game-high six turnovers to go with five assists.

"I had too many turnovers myself and I didn't make enough shots," Edwards said. "It don't really got nothing to do with my team, just more so myself. I had too many turnovers and not enough made shots. It's just that simple."

The Thunder, who have by far the NBA's top defensive rating, are one of the best teams in the league when it comes to forcing turnovers. They hound their opponents with on-ball pressure and gap help. But by now, the Wolves should be plenty familiar with that. This was their fourth matchup this season against a Thunder team that they played in last year's Western Conference Finals.

"It's AAU defense," Edwards said. "They do a pretty good job of it, they're one accord. But we know what to expect. So that's on us — that's on me. I know what they gon' do as far as defensively. So that's on me, turning the ball over."

Anthony Edwards | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

"The one thing you gotta do against this team is you gotta control the possession game," head coach Chris Finch said. "And we lost it on both ends. Sloppy turnovers and second-chance points."

The Wolves certainly shot the ball well enough to pull off a win on Sunday. They hit 47 percent of their shots and 45 percent of their threes. But because of the turnovers and some offensive rebounds for the Thunder, Oklahoma City took 101 total shots compared to 77 for Minnesota. That's a stark difference. The Wolves led by nine points midway through the third quarter and then allowed an extended 41-17 run as the Thunder pulled away.

Edwards has been listed on the injury report before the last two games with right knee soreness, but he didn't want to use that as an excuse. "I'll be all right," he said.

The NBA's third-leading scorer, Edwards has been phenomenal for the Timberwolves this season. He's taken another leap as a scorer and has helped the Wolves win some big games, including a couple victories over the Thunder. But during this recent skid for Minnesota, he's been out-played by the Lakers' Luka Doncic, the Clippers' Kawhi Leonard, and OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 10 assists and only one turnover on Sunday to make up for a rare poor shooting performance.

If the Wolves are going to make another deep run this postseason, a lot of responsibility falls on Edwards to not just score, but also to get his teammates involved — while taking care of the basketball — and to compete on the defensive end of the floor.

As for the Timberwolves' turnover woes as a team, this was the tenth time they've turned it over at least 20 times in a game. Two of those have come in the last five days (they had 21 against the Clippers).

"Turnovers were a real problem early in the season and of late, they're back again," Finch said. "We had probably half a dozen turnovers in the backcourt (today), just sloppiness in transition. Just gotta be cleaner and smarter."

The Wolves don't have a traditional point guard in their starting lineup, where Edwards is the primary ballhandler and Donte DiVincenzo is far more of shooting guard than a PG. Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland can play point guard off the bench, but both are scoring-oriented combo guards. However, that's been the case all season and isn't going to change, so the Wolves have to find a way to figure it out and stop coughing up the ball.

"This is who we are," Finch said. "We've done this all season long. We can't worry about what we do and don't have at this point in the season. We are who we are."