Anthony Edwards Scores 40 Points as Minnesota Eliminates Phoenix in NBA Playoffs

The Minnesota Timberwolves trailed the Phoenix Suns by five points at halftime, but put up big numbers in the second half to come back and beat the Phoenix Suns 122-116 on April 28th in Phoenix in a first round NBA playoff series. Minnesota swept the series in four games; it was the first playoff series win for the franchise in 20 years. Minnesota is the first team to advance to Round 2 of the playoffs.

Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 40 points as he continues his rise to elite status in the NBA. Karl-Anthony Towns had a double double with 28 points and 10 rebounds and Jaden McDaniels scored 18.

Devin Booker had a monster game for Phoenix, scoring 49 points and Kevin Durant had 33. But the rest of the team scored just 34 points, and probably the biggest disappointment was Bradley Beal, he of the enormous contract (two years remaining totaling $103.8 million, with a player option worth $57.1 million for a third year. And a no trade clause). In Game 4, Beal scored 9 points, had one rebound and two assists, and six turnovers before fouling out. He did score 28 in Game 3, but had only 14 and 15 in the first two games. He averaged 18.2 points in the regular season, down considerably from his career high 31.3 in 2020-21 with Washington. Injuries limited him to 53 games this year and 50 games last year.

The Timberwolves will play the winner of the Denver Nuggets—Los Angeles Lakers series next. The defending NBA champion Nuggets lead that series 3-1. The Nuggets and Timberwolves split four games in the regular season and Minnesota took three of four from the Lakers.