MY ACCOUNT
Anthony Edwards ensured the Minnesota Timberwolves did not pay the price for Karl-Anthony Towns’ night to forget against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Three-time All-Star Towns fouled out of the seven-eight play-in game in the West on Tuesday.
Having made just three field goals and given up four turnovers along with his six fouls, Towns had a miserable plus/minus of -14 as he exited the fourth quarter.
But the seven-point lead the Clippers held at that point was subsequently overturned – in no small part due to the performance of former first overall pick Edwards.
The second-year wing finished with 30 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, in a 109-104 T-Wolves win.
Edwards faced the media alongside Patrick Beverley afterwards, and his team-mate interrupted when the 20-year-old was asked about his work on offense.
“No one can guard him. I’ve been telling him that all year,” Beverley said. “I don’t care who plays him. I’ve seen the best defensive guys. I’m one of the best defensive guys on Earth.
“No one can guard him, and I just keep preaching that, preaching that to him, and he’s been doing it all season, so credit to him, credit to his hard work, credit to his patience.
“Obviously we have Karl-Anthony Towns, who we feature a lot, so credit to his patience at a young age, understanding the game, being patient, understanding when to attack.
“KAT fouled out, him and D’Lo [D’Angelo Russell] took over the game. Our young core, man, those three guys, man, we’re going to be here for a while.
“So, I’m very excited. I didn’t mean to interrupt his questions, but I see the boy, he puts in a lot of work, fellas… ladies, too. He puts in a lot of work.
“One of the first guys in the beginning of the year in the gym. It’s time to go home, he’s the last one in, he comes at night. He brings his dog in there, he’s in there.
“So, you’ve got to give a lot of credit. This is our star and this is his moment. He deserves all of it. This is his moment. My bad.”
Beverley could be forgiven for being a little excited, having beaten his former team. He spent four years on the Clippers before joining the T-Wolves this season.
“I wanted this so bad,” he said. “I wanted this one so bad.”
His message to the Clippers now? “Take their a** home. Long flight to LA, take y’all a** home.
“It’s deeper than that for me. I gave my blood and sweat and tears to that organisation. You guys know the story. Blood, sweat and tears, to just be written off like that, ‘oh, he’s injury prone, he’s old’, this, this, that, that.
“To be able to come here, play them in a play-in, beat their a**, there’s no other feeling, man, no other feeling.”
Despite Beverley’s apparent ill feeling towards the Clippers, former team-mate Paul George said he “loves” and “misses” his “contagious” antics.
“You need energy guys like that,” George said, although Clippers coach Ty Lue was disappointed with the way Beverley was able to get under his team’s skin.
“He did a good job, especially in that second half, of just defending, getting into guys, irritating guys like he always does,” Lue said.
“He’s a big reason why this team is successful this year. I just think the mentality he brought over here has changed the team.
“[You’ve] just got to be able to keep composure, you can’t let it get to you. I thought at times he did. That’s what he does.
“He’s been with us here forever. We knew that coming into the game. We didn’t handle it well, but whatever.”
