What adjustments did Timberwolves make to get Anthony Edwards going?

SAN FRANCISCO – Even though Anthony Edwards had a relatively quiet first half in Saturday night‘s Game 3 of the Timberwolves’ second-round playoff series against Golden State, coach Chris Finch was happy with the way his star was playing. This wasn’t like Game 1, when Finch said Edwards needed to come out with more energy and set the tone.

“I thought he was aggressive and doing the right things,” Finch said of Edwards. “The first half, when he was putting the ball on the deck, he was drawing such a crowd we were actually able to find some cleaner looks.”

But the Wolves recognized that if they were going to win Game 3, they had to find a way for Edwards to get going in the scoring column. He ended up scoring 28 of his 36 points in the second half as the Wolves pulled out a 102-97 victory over the Warriors to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Monday night at Chase Center.

The Wolves set fewer ball screens for Edwards when he had the ball and let him drive without getting doubled on screens. They also played him more off the ball.

“I think just playing off the ball is better for me playing vs. this team, because everyone is locked in on the game plan,” Edwards said. “They’ve got a pretty good group of guys that’s locked in on the game plan. They’re a championship team, and they don’t make too many game-plan mistakes.”

The chemistry between Edwards and Julius Randle was on full display in that second half, as the Wolves played through Randle, and his creation unlocked some buckets for Edwards. Twice, Randle found Edwards on back cuts for easy baskets in the third quarter. Then late in the game, Randle set up a pair of three-pointers for Edwards. In all, Randle assisted on six Edwards buckets in the second half, and he had 12 assists for the game.

“Finchy put me in great positions, less ball screens because all they going to do is probably trap it,” Edwards said. “Whoever is setting the screen, his man going to be super high where I got to pass the ball. And then just playing off of Ju. … Ju finding me on cuts and giving me easy looks and just getting into a rhythm.”

With the aggressive way the Warriors were defending, Finch called Randle a “pressure release” that allowed the Wolves to “take a breath” on offense when Randle had the ball at the perimeter.

“His physicality is suited for this time of the year,” Finch said. “He’s a hit-first guy, offensively and defensively, and particularly offensive. He’s one of the more physical offensive players we have in the league. He’s stayed really aggressive and managed to balance playmaking and scoring for himself.”

There was another key play in the fourth quarter in which both Edwards and Randle set up one of their teammates: Jaden McDaniels. Edwards had the ball in the left corner and passed to Randle at the top of the key. He then swung it to McDaniels for a three from the right wing and a 90-84 Wolves lead with 3:19 to play.

McDaniels, who finished with 15 points on the night, was the “unsung hero” as Finch called him of Game 3, with nine fourth-quarter points on just two field-goal attempts.

“Jaden played such an incredible [Game 3], both ends of the floor,” Finch said. “The shot distribution wasn’t very even throughout most of the game and often times guys like that will get antsy when the ball comes their way, but he stayed patient.”

McDaniels said he knew that Randle and Edwards were seeing the floor, and that his time would come eventually. That’s how in sync they all have been.

“We weren’t that good earlier in the year, but I feel like now, we just be flowing in crunch time,” McDaniels said.