The Dallas Mavericks might have put an abrupt stop to the best Minnesota Timberwolves’ postseason run in decades on Thursday, dominating Game 5 to clinch the Western Conference crown and a berth in the NBA Finals, but it didn’t dampen Anthony Edwards’ outlook on the future one bit.
“We’ll be back next year,” Edwards said after totaling 28 points on 10-for-18 shooting, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in a 124-103 closeout loss.
Edwards, a former No. 1 pick, capped off his fourth season in the league with a second-team All-NBA nod and three 40-point playoff games as the Timberwolves reached the Western Conference finals for the first time since Kevin Garnett led them there in 2004.
All at the ripe, old age of 22.
After sweeping the Phoenix Suns in the first round and coming back from 20 points down in the second half of Game 7 of the conference semifinals to topple the defending champion Denver Nuggets, the Mavericks proved too much for the Timberwolves.
The No. 3-seeded Timberwolves had home court advantage over the No. 5-seeded Mavericks but fell down 3-0 to start the series, including blowing an 18-point lead at the Target Center in Game 2 when Luka Doncic, the eventual unanimous series MVP, hit a go-ahead 3 in the final seconds.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said his biggest takeaway from how his team stalled out in the conference finals was the collective awareness and commitment it will take to continue to level up as the postseason progresses in the future.
“We’re very disappointed. When I look back all summer long, there’s going to be a lot of regrets about the early parts of this series,” Finch said. “But it’s been a great year. I’m very proud of the guys. The way the city has gotten behind the team, it’s been special. We’ve always said from the time we got here we want to put out a team that people are proud to root for and play the right way. We feel like we do that.
