Ant defends Game 4 approach after quiet night

MINNEAPOLIS — With the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ season on the brink after one of the quietest offensive nights of the postseason for Anthony Edwardstheir 23-year-old star defended his approach in Monday’s 128-126 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

“I don’t look at it like I struggled, or[[[[Julius Randle]struggled,” Edwards said. “They just, they had a good game plan, making us get off the ball. Especially for me, man. They were super in the gaps, I made the right play all night.”

Edwards had his second-lowest scoring total of the postseason with 16 points and tied his fewest shot attempts, finishing 5-for-13 from the field (1-for-7 on 3-pointers).

“I don’t really look at it like I struggled,” Edwards continued. “I didn’t get enough shots to say I struggled, so that might be how you guys look at it. But, yeah, I didn’t struggle at all. I just made the right play.”

After scoring 30 points or more in the past two games, it’s certainly fair to say Edwards was contained — especially in the first half, when he scored only four points on 1-for-2 shooting.

After averaging 22.4 shots in the first round and 19.8 in the second round, Edwards has attempted 17.3 shots per game against the Thunder so far.

“It’s an urge that I want to get the ball in the rim, put it up there,” Edwards said. “But you don’t want to take bad shots and get your team out of rhythm. So I was just playing the game the right way, man.”

Wolves coach Chris Finch said Edwards was better as the game progressed.

“I thought second half he was more aggressive,” Finch said. “He got downhill. We got him off the ball a little bit more. When he got to the paint, I thought he found some people, made the right plays. First half, he lagged behind a little bit too much. He needed to get out in front so we could stretch the floor and screen for him a bit. But second half was much better.”

Randle, who scored a playoff-career-low five points on 1-for-7 shooting, never got it going.

After he and Edwards also were responsible for five turnovers apiece, as Minnesota committed 23 leading to 22 points for the Thunder, Randle blamed himself.

“I think it was just a lot me just spectating,” Randle said. “I got to figure out a way to get myself involved in actions. I think I didn’t take my first shot in the second half until there were 20 seconds left in the third quarter. I got to figure out a way to get myself in position to be more aggressive, rather than just standing, spectating or trying to crash the glass.”

After a brilliant postseason through the first two rounds as the sixth-seeded Wolves upset the Los Angeles Lakers in five games and advanced past the Golden State Warriors in five games, Randle has been inconsistent against Oklahoma City.

He scored 28 points in Game 1, six points in Game 2 and 24 points in Game 3 before Monday’s letdown.

Minnesota still had a chance thanks to big scoring nights from Nickeil Alexander-Walker (23 points on 9-for-15 shooting), Jaden McDaniels (22 points on 9-for-15 shooting) and Donte Flutnzo (21 points on 7-for-11 shooting), but the turnovers and Oklahoma City’s 19 offensive rebounds proved costly.

“The offensive rebounds and turnovers, if you take away the junk points, it’s a whole different game,” DiVincenzo said.

Minnesota, trailing 3-1, will need to win Wednesday’s Game 5 at Paycom Center (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) to extend the series or fall three wins short of the first NBA Finals berth in franchise history for the second straight year.

Edwards was asked whether he felt a “burden” to increase his scoring with the Wolves’ season on the line.

“No,” Edwards said. “I don’t put no burden on myself. I just try to win. The only burden I put on myself is to try to win. We gave ourselves a chance tonight. We just didn’t come out from the start with the same aggression that we did in Game 3.”

Indeed, down 2-0 in the series, Minnesota responded with a 143-101 rout in Game 3 to avoid the near-death knell of trailing 3-0.

Now the Wolves will need to muster a win for their season to avoid elimination with another loss in Game 5, which would propel Oklahoma City to the Finals.

“Just not conceding to the situation. Finding a way. Just got to want it more,” Alexander-Walker said. “The good thing about it is in this situation every time we’ve had a come-to-terms talk within each other, we’ve always responded well. … We have a resilient group and I trust in that group.”