Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards remains confident in his team despite falling 3-0 to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.
“It’s time to make history, guys,” Edwards told his teammates in the locker room after Sunday’s 116-107 loss, per Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I don’t think they can beat us yet. We’re not all working well at the same time. One game at a time.”
“Guys, we’re here now,” he added, before asking his teammates, “What do we do now?”
No NBA team has ever advanced in a best-of-seven playoff series after losing the first three games, and only four teams, most recently the Boston Celtics last year, have taken a series to a winner-take-all Game 7.
The Western Conference Finals are close, with the first two games decided by a combined four points, making Game 3 look like a big win by comparison, with the Timberwolves also leading with five minutes left in the game.
Edwards’ comments illustrate why youth can sometimes be an advantage in the postseason: Winning four straight games might not be so intimidating for a player who has made the playoffs in three of his first four seasons and excelled individually every year.
But history speaks for itself: if it were that easy to overturn a 3-0 deficit, someone would have done it by now.
It doesn’t help Minnesota that the team’s best players haven’t performed as expected.
Edwards scored 40 points on 11-of-33 shooting in the first two games. Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 15.0 points and shooting 27.8 percent from the field in the series. Rudy Gobert had just nine points and six rebounds in Game 3.
In Towns’ case, it reinforces the general perception among some that he’s not cut out for the biggest stage.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Timberwolves take the series to six games, especially considering how close the margin was with a Game 4 win, but not many likely share Edwards’ belief.
