Anthony Edwards is turning the corner in a way that should have the rest of the league paying attention. Long known for his explosive athleticism and highlight-reel plays, the Minnesota Timberwolves star is now backing it up with cold-blooded execution when the game is on the line. For the first time in his career, Edwards is not just showing up in clutch moments-he’s dominating them.
Let’s talk numbers. Before this season, Edwards had never cracked 43% shooting in clutch time.
This year? He’s hitting an eye-popping 69.4% from the field in those high-pressure minutes.
That’s not just improvement-that’s elite company territory. In fact, no other player with at least two clutch attempts per game is even close to matching that efficiency.
But here’s the rub: as incredible as Edwards has been in the clutch, the Timberwolves haven’t always been able to turn that into wins. They’re 7-5 in games where Edwards plays clutch minutes and 9-7 in all clutch contests this season. That’s a decent record, but not the kind of mark you'd expect when your best player is shooting nearly 70% in crunch time.
Take Thursday night’s 142-138 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets. Edwards was electric-dropping 24 of his 44 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including a jaw-dropping corner three to force OT.
It was the kind of shot that should’ve swung the game in Minnesota’s favor. But despite the heroics, the Wolves couldn’t close the deal.
And it wasn’t just Edwards lighting it up-Nikola Jokic matched him blow for blow, pouring in 24 points of his own during the same stretch. Minnesota also had to claw back from a 15-point hole with just six minutes to go. That comeback effort was impressive, but it also highlights a bigger issue: the Wolves are still struggling to defend without Rudy Gobert, and it’s costing them in critical moments.
This isn’t a one-off. Edwards is having the best season of his young career-averaging a career-high 29.4 points per game-and yet the Wolves are just 2-4 when he scores 40 or more.
That’s a tough pill to swallow. In one of those games, he played every second of the fourth quarter and overtime just to edge out the New Orleans Pelicans, a team well below .500.
The team’s offensive efficiency tells a similar story. Minnesota’s overall offensive rating is a solid 118.3, but that drops to 111.3 in clutch time.
Ironically, that’s actually the best clutch net rating of the Edwards era, thanks largely to his individual leap. But even with his brilliance, the Wolves haven’t figured out how to consistently close games.
Outside of Edwards, the options have been shaky at best. Julius Randle is shooting just 33.3% in the clutch.
Donte DiVincenzo isn’t faring much better at 35.3%. Those are your secondary shot creators, and that level of inefficiency simply doesn’t cut it when games are decided by a single possession.
One bright spot? Jaden McDaniels.
He’s quietly been one of the more reliable clutch scorers on the roster, hitting 53.8% of his shots in those moments. It might be time for the Wolves to get him more involved when the game tightens up.
Bottom line: Edwards has made the leap. He’s gone from a promising young talent to one of the most lethal clutch scorers in the league.
But if the Timberwolves want to be more than just a fun League Pass team, they need to give him some help in those final minutes. The foundation is there.
Now it’s about building the right structure around it.
Because if Minnesota can figure out how to complement Edwards’ late-game brilliance, they won’t just be winning more clutch games-they’ll be winning the ones that matter most in May and June.