Anthony Edwards walked into the postgame podium in San Antonio still grumbling at himself, two days after hyperextending his knee and on the back of a 25-minute return that helped the Minnesota Timberwolves steal Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals from the Spurs. The Wolves had no business winning the game on paper. Edwards, predictably, made the loss feel personal anyway.
The ending of the contest crystallised both his impact and his self-criticism. Asked to walk through the final sequence, he did not duck.
"Oh man, I made so many mistakes at the end of the game. I'm disappointed in myself," Edwards said.
Reporters protested. Edwards had not been expected to even suit up. He pushed the framing aside.
"For me, man, 75 percent of the game for me is my mind. My mind got to be where it needs to be. And in the last two minutes of the game, it wasn't. I gave up two offensive rebounds. Turned the ball over. Yeah, I'll be better," Edwards said.
The rebounds belonged to Spurs forward Julian Champagnie, who outworked Edwards on the offensive glass twice inside the final minute. Edwards refused to chalk it up to a rusty knee.
"We just got to keep stay locked in on the game plan, especially myself, man. I can't give up two offensive rebounds to Champagnie. I may not be as athletic as I usually am, but I got to be able to box out and make those small plays to win the big time game," Edwards said.
The story behind his availability was the more remarkable thread. Speaking earlier in his locker-room presser, Edwards detailed how Minnesota's medical staff turned a hyperextension into a 48-hour recovery.
"Just right after the injury, I think the main thing is just trying to keep it from being stiff cuz that's the the usual outcome of when you hyperextend your knee. Like you don't want to move it. I think I got the best physical therapist in the world with David Hans. 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. And just a lot of resistance. So yeah, he got me right," Edwards said.
He insisted he felt no on-court limitations once tip-off arrived.
"I felt great. I don't think I'm limited at all. And it's whatever coach needs from me," Edwards said.
There were no game-management excuses for the late-game misadventures, either. Edwards owned the lack of a timeout call as a shared mistake before the coach took the blame himself.
"Just game plan mistakes for me, mental mistakes. We had timeouts. I should have used one. I'm not really that good at taking the ball out of bounds, as I know. I had a couple missed two missed box outs with a minute left on number 30, Champagnie," Edwards said.
Asked whether the matchup against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs sharpened his motivation to rush back, Edwards politely deflated the storyline.
"No, not really. I don't think me coming back was because of nothing they got going on. It was more so I want to be out there with my brothers. Yeah. Just that simple," Edwards said.
He credited Julius Randle, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, with setting Minnesota's tone physically.
"I mean, he's the strongest player on the floor. He know he can use his physicality against anybody, any one of them. I feel like he did a good job of that tonight," Edwards said.
Asked what he had learned about the group through one game in the round, Edwards offered the Wolves' identity in a word.
"Resilience. That's what we got," Edwards said.
Minnesota stole home court advantage. Edwards stole most of the headlines on his way back from a knee scare. Game 2 in San Antonio is up next.
