Anthony Edwards and the No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves notched a Game 1 upset over the No. 3 seed Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, recording a 117-95 final score at Crypto.com Arena.
Edwards helped propel his team to victory on the road, notching 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the postseason contest.
On Sunday, Edwards was announced as one of the league’s three finalists for the Clutch Player of the Year award — joining Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
Edwards just finished his fifth NBA regular-season campaign, averaging a career-high 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. The three-time NBA All-Star led the league in “clutch” scoring with 157 points this season.
The NBA qualifies “clutch” time as the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the game is within five points.
“We’re not surprised,” the Timberwolves wrote in response to the NBA’s announcement.
This is the third season the NBA has awarded a Clutch Player of the Year trophy. Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox and Golden State’s Stephen Curry were the first two winners of the award, named after NBA legend Jerry West.
Edwards is maintaining an underdog mentality heading into Game 2.
“They still got the Lakers. The Lakers supposed to win. That’s just how it’s supposed to go,” he said after Game 1. “We’re not supposed to be here, so we just going to compete to the best of our ability.”
Edwards and the Timberwolves will take the court for Game 2 against the Lakers on Tuesday night. That postseason contest at Crypto.com Arena will tipoff at 10 p.m. ET.
