SUMMARY
- Anthony Edwards was asked about his level of confidence in facing the Phoenix Suns.
- Ant remains confident despite losing recent matchups against Kevin Durant and the Suns.
Anthony Edwards had quite a lot to say about Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns heading into their first-round matchup. As most NBA fans should be aware, Edwards has been playing at an impressive level for the majority of this season and has even earned comparisons to Michael Jordan due to the various highlights that he has put on display over the 82-game-long regular season.
As per the structure of the NBA playoffs, Ant and the 3rd-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves are going to face off against Kevin Durant and the 6th-seeded Phoenix Suns for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. When recently interviewed and asked about this potential matchup, Edwards had quite a lot to say. That said, a closer look at his mindset and the Timberwolves’ current situation is required.
Anthony Edwards blames the foul calls for the Suns’ dominance over the Timberwolves
The Timberwolves and Suns have proven to be quite different teams this season. Despite the addition of Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic to their roster, Phoenix has not fared well in the regular season and finished with the 6th seed. On the other hand, the development and growth of the Timberwolves led to them doing much better as they have now finished with the 3rd spot in the West.
While this may indicate that the Timberwolves are clear-cut favorites over the Suns, fans who have been following their matchups this season will know that Phoenix has dominated Minnesota in all of their games. When interviewed after the Suns’ most recent victory a few days ago, Anthony Edwards had quite a lot to say.
“Those games over with… It’s a whole different game now. The refs can’t call those fouls that [they are] calling so it’s going to be a lot tougher…I mean you watched it they just double-team me…Uh they play KD at the 4 so you know puts us in a lot of rotations but we’ll be ready for it…gotta make the read one d earlier because they tryna get their hands on the ball when I’m trying to pass it…
“Those games [are] over with… It’s a whole different game now. The refs can’t call those fouls that [they are] calling.”
Anthony Edwards on his mindset heading to the playoffs against the Suns 👀
(via @BallySportsNOR)pic.twitter.com/9NlIPW4vBk
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 15, 2024
Ant continued, “Figure out a way to beat Phoenix cuz we haven’t been able to do it. That’s the mindset… Hell yeah, they won 3 games in the regular season but we got the postseason so we gonna be good to go…We gotta compete in the first quarter because every other quarter we’re able to stay with them it’s just the first quarter we can’t turn the ball over so much.”
Upon hearing this, fans must certainly wonder if the Timberwolves should be expected to win over the Phoenix Suns and what this first-round matchup is expected to look like.
Should Ant and the Wolves be favored over the Suns in their first-round matchup?
Since the Timberwolves hold the better record and have been more consistent this season, one would assume that they should be favored to win this series. However, the fact that they struggle to secure victory against the Suns or guard Kevin Durant is undoubtedly a cause for concern.