Minnesota Timberwolves fans held their breath when All-Star forward Anthony Edwards suffered an ankle injury during the second quarter of Game 2 of the conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. The sight of Edwards hobbling off the court, unable to put any weight on his left leg as he exited the game and headed for the locker room did not lend much optimism to the hope that he'd be able to return for the second half.
Heck, even Timberwolves coach Chris Finch admitted he didn't think he'd see Edwards return.
Well, return he did. Edwards toughed out the injury to score 13 of his 20 points in the second half and help Minnesota fend off a Warriors' second-half push to secure the victory. And some of Edwards's teammates were not surprised. In fact, Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels and guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker had descriptions of the macabre circumstances Edwards would have to be facing to not play through an injury.
"You never really know," Alexander-Walker told reporters. "Because you never know which one is really bad. Especially when you don't get to see them. But he always finds a way. One thing about Ant, he's not gonna sit out."
"He's got to be damn near dead."
McDaniels remained in the horror genre with his own remarks about Edwards.
"Yeah I've seen it before," McDaniels said. "He's got to have his leg chopped off or some s--- [to not play]."
In all seriousness, Edwards's ability to return so quickly—and play as well as he did—is likely a good sign for his availability moving forward. He'll have a full day to rest his ankle before Game 3 tips off on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wolves Players Had Macabre Summation of Anthony Edwards's Will to Play Through Injury.
