Scoggins: Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards shows that look in those eyes, and suddenly the Warriors are doomed

SAN FRANCISCO – He got that look in his eye, the look of someone about to do damage, like a starving man who lays eyes on a T-bone.

Timberwolves players have seen it plenty of times before from Anthony Edwards.

“As a basketball fan, it’s fun,” Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “And as a competitor it’s fun because he’s on your team.”

Said Jaden McDaniels: “At that moment, I’m a fan like y’all. I’m watching him kill.”

Edwards went into seek-and-destroy mode in the third quarter Monday night to put the Golden State Warriors on the brink of elimination. Frustrated with himself and his team at halftime, Edwards levitated to that special place where nothing and no one can disrupt his flow.

Edwards nearly outscored the Warriors by himself with a barrage that ignited a 117-110 win and might have served as a knockout punch for the series with the Wolves returning home with a 3-1 lead.

“Anthony Edwards does what Anthony Edwards does,” Alexander-Walker said.

It was ruthless. Edwards scored 16 points, including three three-pointers, as the Wolves outscored the Warriors 39-17 in the quarter, setting a team postseason record for largest positive point differential in any quarter.

Those moments when Edwards catches fire and seizes control of a game with his shooting is like watching a wave in the ocean gain size and energy.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” he said.

Unless, of course, you’re on the opposite side.

“On the road, you can hear the pain from the crowd when he’s making shots like that,” Alexander-Walker said. “He gets on a heater and starts to do his thing and being the showman that he is.”

This heater actually began at the end of the second quarter. With time ticking down, Edwards used a crossover dribble to create clearance from Gary Payton II, pulling up a step inside the halfcourt logo for a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

Edwards glared at the Warriors bench as he walked to the locker room.

The fuse was lit.

“That was a nice shot for me,” he said. “Got me going.”

The intermission didn’t cool him off.

Wolves coach Chris Finch noted that Edwards was vocal at halftime, challenging teammates to play better. He took his own words to heart.

“I didn’t like how we were playing overall, and I didn’t like how I was playing individually,” he said. “I knew I had to pick it up.”

He picked himself up, and the rest of the team. One shot fell. Then another, and another. Suddenly, he was on a heater.

He made deep threes and converted a three-point play on a left-handed finish in traffic. He drained back-to-back three-pointers to put the Wolves ahead 83-68.

The Warriors looked helpless, to the point that Payton smothered Edwards near midcourt on one possession, oblivious and unconcerned about what was happening elsewhere on the court. Preventing Edwards from touching the ball was his only task.

“His threes, obviously he hit some really tough ones,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The one at the end of the first half was incredible. He’s a great player, and that’s a challenge.”

The Warriors looked panicky as Edwards revved up, as if they sensed the game — and series — slipping away. They committed six turnovers, seven fouls and missed all six of their three-point attempts in the quarter.

The Wolves led 97-77 at the end of the quarter, enough cushion to survive a sloppy fourth quarter that made the final score closer than it should have been. The Wolves went into cruise control a little too early. But Edwards had already taken the tension out of the game.

“Ant’s the brightest star in the room,” Julius Randle said. “He has that ‘It’ factor. I said it from the beginning when I got traded here, he’s special. He has a chance to be as great as he wants to be.”

His third quarter was the mark of a great player seizing a moment and an opportunity, knowing a huge gap exists between a 3-1 series lead and being even after four games.

Edwards found a zone. He held the game in his hands, and the Warriors could do little to stop it. He got that look in his eyes, and even teammates became fans watching the show.