The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered their largest defeat of the season so far following their 126-102 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. The team has lost three of their last four games now, but one of the bigger storylines postgame was Anthony Edwards leaving the Timberwolves’ bench before the game was over. Following the loss, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch spoke about Edwards’ actions, as per Chris Hine of The Minnesota Star Tribune.
“Obviously frustrated with the performance, and rightfully so,” Finch said. “But he needs to stay out on the floor and root for his team.”
Anthony Edwards choosing to leave the bench and head to the locker room early came after Chris Finch made the decision to pull the Timberwolves’ starters early as it was evident the Hawks were going to win. The Wolves trailed 109-80 at that point, still with more than half the fourth quarter left to be played. Edwards did not speak with media following the game.
The loss dropped the Wolves to 21-13, and they loss a prime opportunity to gain ground on the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference standings. The Lakers lost to the Pistons on Tuesday, dropping them to 20-10. A win would have essentially tied the Wolves with the Lakers in the standings for the No. 5 seed.
It’s been an uneven season for the Timberwolves so far. Prior to Christmas, the Wolves had managed a 10-2 stretch, beating teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks in the process. But since their Christmas loss to the Denver Nuggets, the team has gone 1-3.
Anthony Edwards has still been the star for the team, arguably the best shooting guard in the NBA. Coming into Wednesday’s game, he had appeared in a total of 26 games at just about 35 minutes per game. He had been averaging a career-high 29.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals with splits of 49.7 percent shooting from the field, 39.7 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 80.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
