Wolves star Anthony Edwards says he’ll bring matured approach into Lakers series

Timberwolves All-Star guard Anthony Edwards enters his fourth NBA playoffs Saturday in Los Angeles promising he will be matured and prepared to play, even as an underdog to the 17-time NBA champion Lakers.

ESPN polled its employees and experts when L.A. secured the Western Conference’s third seed to the Wolves’ sixth seed and came up with the Lakers as favorites, 10-0.

“I just love it; it’s dope,” Edwards said. “I love the fact that everybody wants the Lakers to win. That’s how it’s supposed to be. They don’t want the Timberwolves to win. I get it.”

Conspiracy theories aside, the Wolves are the team that reached last season’s Western Conference finals before they lost to Luka Doncic and Dallas in five games.

They will face Doncic again, only this time in a first-round series after the Mavericks inexplicably traded Doncic in his prime for injury-prone Anthony Davis. Doncic now plays alongside the age-defying LeBron James — Edwards’ U.S. Olympic teammate — for a Lakers franchise that is Showtime in its own way once again.

“It means a lot to matchup against him, man,” Edwards said about James, 40. “Probably goes down as the greatest player to ever play basketball. Trying to get him out of the playoffs under my belt is going to be a tough one, but it’s going to be a fun road.”

The Wolves lost to Dallas last season after they swept Phoenix in a first-round series, then beat rival Denver in seven games, winning the final game on the road.

“I just wasn’t ready to play against Dallas last year, but I’ll be ready,” Edwards said after practice Wednesday. “Physically, I was just out of it. I’m in it now, though.”

Edwards said he is using this week before Saturday night’s playoff opener to work on his conditioning for those clutch moments late in games and drill against the different defensive looks the Lakers are sure to send his way.

He said he can make the right decisions, showing he knows when to pass and when to keep the ball himself.

“I’m going to see five people looking at me, I’ve got to be willing to make that pass every time,” Edwards said. “We just got to trust each other, man, and trust ourselves, our work.”

Edwards also said he will keep his emotions in check and his mouth closed when he doesn’t get an official’s call that he believes he deserved.

“I won’t get no techs,” Edwards said. “I won’t say anything. I’m going to be super quiet, 100 percent.”

Edwards too often in his young career has made the wrong decision with the ball, keeping it for a forced shot for himself, particularly with the game on the line and the clock ticking. He calls himself much improved after working with assistant coach Chris Hines late at night and throughout the summers.

“I’ve gotten better and better every year,” Edwards said. “We watch film all the time. We’ve got adjustments and reads to make.”

Wolves coach Chris Finch said he has seen the changes his young star has made toggling from one defensive coverage to another, from the season’s beginning to the playoffs’ start.

“No doubt, it’s one of the most impactful steps he has made this season,” Finch said. “He has gone from being super frustrated for not being able to play the kind of game he has wanted to play to embracing it and figuring out in the moment a lot better. It used to take him a while. Now I see him directing his teammates where he wants them in certain situations, which is really good, because now he’s thinking a pass or two ahead.”

Edwards said he texted, called and met in person with teammates after the first-round matchups were final in an attempt to get everybody aimed the right way.

“Ant knows how he’s a huge part of our team and how he’s going to set the tone for all of us,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “Watch his focus. Watch his approach. Watch his growth over the years. It has been amazing.”

Now it’s time to play against one of the greatest who ever played, James, and a gifted player, Doncic, who might be the NBA’s most dangerous with the ball in his hands.

Edwards calls it a series that will challenge him and all of his teammates.

“At this point of the season, it doesn’t matter who gets 20 points, 30 points,” Edwards said. “It doesn’t matter if I have five points. It doesn’t matter if Julius [Randle] has five points. It doesn’t matter who gets all the buckets and shots, man. We’ve got to be willing to shoot the ball, don’t turn nothing down, and I’ve got to be willing to make those passes every time to open the defense up and get downhill.

“We’ve got to be confident. We know it’s going to be a tough battle, man.”

To get analysis and more on the Timberwolves in your inbox each Tuesday, sign up for the free Wolves Weekly newsletter here.