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SAN FRANCISCO – Anthony Edwards declined to speak to reporters after the team’s 114-106 loss to the Warriors on Sunday night, citing fines he has recently received for cursing during his postgame interviews.
He doesn’t want to get fined again, and he likely was going to curse after the way he played in the fourth quarter. (It should be noted players are also susceptible to fines for declining to do postgame interviews when requested, per their contracts.)
Edwards forced a number of shots in the fourth quarter and was 1-for-7 with two turnovers, or as coach Chris Finch said, “just hero shot after hero shot.”
But when Julius Randle was speaking and fielded a question about the team’s late-game offense, Edwards offered a few words for the recorders and cameras to hear.
“I just got to … play better,” Edwards said. “I gotta find my teammates when they put three or four on me. Terrible by me.”
Edwards (27 points, six assists, six turnovers) wasn’t alone in needing to own up to mistakes Sunday night, especially when the Wolves allowed 44 points in the third quarter. The defense that had propelled them to a four-game win streak vanished as Golden State pushed the tempo, even after makes and dead-ball turnovers. Stephen Curry torched them for 30 points while Buddy Hield took advantage of that lackluster transition defense for 27 points on seven threes.
“Normally there’s like one point in the game I like to point to where you lose the game,” Finch said. “But this game had two. First was the start of the third quarter. They had 10 transition baskets, I think, to start in the first five or six minutes, and a lot of them came after we had scored, which is inexcusable. We did a really good job with our halfcourt defense. They decided they needed to push the tempo, and we didn’t answer the bell.”
The Wolves lost a 58-49 halftime lead thanks to a 44-32 third quarter, and then they fell behind by 11 in the fourth before storming back for a 106-105 lead. Nickeil Alexander-Walker (19 points, 7-for-9 shooting) had 10 points during a 15-3 Wolves run, and Edwards put the Wolves ahead with a three-pointer with 4:47 to play. The Wolves didn’t score from there as Edwards forced shot after shot. Finch opted to not reinsert point guard Mike Conley because Alexander-Walker had been playing so well, but the Wolves offense disintegrated.
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