The Minnesota Timberwolves are a lethal two-way team. They showed that much against the Phoenix Suns, who they swept in four games – a result that no one could have predicted before the series started last weekend. What most people didn’t expect, though, was just how well the Timberwolves’ defense and offense would gel together to create a complete nightmare situation for the Suns. 

Anthony Edwards was the embodiment of that nightmare. He was locked in as he worked his way to a final statline of 40 points, nine rebounds, six assists, a steals and two blocks. He really came to life in the second half, though, scoring 31 points over the last two quarters.  

The most legendary NBA players have a killer instinct and Edwards showed us in this series that he has nitrogen in his fucking veins. He tweaked both of his ankles in the fourth quarter but played through the pain. When they needed a three, a dunk, clutch free throws, or a timely rebound in clutch time, ‘Ant’ was ready to answer the call. As the team’s best player, he showed that he was unafraid in the biggest moment of his career so far. 

Edwards completely broke the Suns’ spirit and he went coast to coast for a dunk with 19.5 seconds left in the game as he caught his opponents sleeping at the wheel to push Minnesota’s lead to 121-115. That was the final nail in the coffin as it forced the Suns to burn their last timeout. The Suns actually got lucky off a board off a missed free throw as Royce O’Neale got a three-pointer off while down five, but he clanked it.

What we also saw in the series is how Edwards has grown as a leader. In his postgame interview with the TNT crew, he was asked what his highlight of the game was. He didn’t need much time to say that Karl-Anthony Towns had a great game and gave him credit for his impact. Towns, who was once the top guy in Minnesota, gracefully ceded that position to Edwards this season and the team has benefited from him embracing a new role as a deadly second option on offense, which Towns showed as he ended the game with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Edwards didn’t do it alone, and it’s good to see that he was willing to quickly give people credit. Jaden McDaniels, Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid, Kyle Anderson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all had their moments in the series.

This is the first playoff series that the Timberwolves have won since 2004 and, man, did they do it in style. They had never swept an opponent before, but the Suns were simply overmatched this year. The Big Three that the Suns combined clearly don’t complement each other. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant tried their best in Game 4 as they combined for 82 points. The rest of the team combined for 34 points, including Bradley Beal who had nine points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

It was unfortunate that Minnesota coach Chris Finch was unable to celebrate the win from the bench with his excited players. That’s because he got run into by Mike Conley and went down in a heap in the fourth quarter. He was not in good shape and was down for a long time before he got up. He couldn’t get back to the locker room under his own power and had to be helped by two people. The players wasted on time after the final buzzer to rush to see him though and it was heartening to see a camera shot that showed him surrounded by the men he’d coached to victory.

The Timberwolves can now look forward to a week of rest to recharge before they take on their next opponent, who will likely be the Denver Nuggets. That would be one hell of a series. I can’t wait.