Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards clocked out early in Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks, much to the chagrin of his coach, Chris Finch.
Playing in front of his hometown crowd, Edwards was pulled along with Minnesota’s other starters with the Timberwolves trailing by 29 and nearly eight minutes remaining. But rather than taking a seat on the bench alongside teammates Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, Edwards tossed a towel in the air and headed for the tunnel.
Edwards, who had 30 points over three quarters, did not speak to reporters after the game.
‘Ant’s obviously frustrated with the performance, and rightfully so,’ Finch told the media, ‘but he needs to stay out on the floor and root for his team.’
The Hawks were without All-Star guard Trae Young and had won just two of their previous 13 games entering Wednesday night.
The Timberwolves began the season as championship contenders, but although they have a respectable 21-13 record and are currently sixth in the Western Conference standings, they’ve looked awful of late.
Edwards had 30 points in about three quarters of work before leaving eight minutes early
Edwards (No. 5) is seen getting up and tossing a towel on his way to the locker room
Edwards had scored 30 of the team’s 80 points before making an early break for the exit
Wednesday’s 126-102 loss in Atlanta came four days after the Timberwolves fell at home to the lowly Brooklyn Nets, 123-107.
Asked how the Timberwolves are looking, center Rudy Gobert didn’t hold back.
‘Not like a team that wants to play for the championship,’ Gobert said, as quoted by The Athletic’s John Hollinger. ‘It didn’t seem like we had any type of energy… any type of life.
‘Offensively, it just seems like we were playing an individual sport, and defensively it just feels like there’s not any extra effort,’ he continued. ‘I think the two are connected.’
The Timberwolves are in Miami and Washington on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, before returning home to face the Heat on Tuesday.
‘We have another tough game coming up against another team that plays really, really hard and runs full court,’ Finch told reporters. ‘So, we’ve got to regroup.
‘You just kind of view it as just a tough patch in the middle of a season. I mean, obviously, we’ve got to address the things that we see need to be addressed right now, but there’s a lot of basketball left to be played.’
Edwards, the first pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, has been his usual productive self this season, averaging 29.1 points and five rebounds a game while making nearly 40 percent of his 3-point attempts and just shy of half of his total field goals.
