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After dropping 30 points in Game 3, Anthony Edwards managed just 16 in Game 4. In what ended up being a two-point game, many, including ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, believe Edwards' limited performance directly led to the Minnesota Timberwolves' downfall against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
Despite his quiet night, Edwards said after the same that he did not think he struggled and gave what the defense offered him. Smith swiftly rejected that notion, calling his response “inexcusable.”
“When your response is, ‘I don't think I struggled, I made the right play,' when it was a relatively pedestrian offensive performance for you, that's inexcusable,” Smith said on ‘First Take.' “Ant-Man is so much better than that. The reason the Minnesota Timberwolves are in this position to begin with is because he didn't focus on doing the right thing. Sometimes you have to engage in hero ball; sometimes you gotta be a little selfish. Sometimes you gotta go out there and display a level of aggression that might turn people off until you turn them on because you're a show-stopper.”
Edwards ended the game with just 16 points on 5-for-13 from the floor. He added four rebounds and six assists but committed five turnovers while being blanketed by Luguentz Dort for most of the game.
Stephen A. Smith criticism of Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards
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The criticism was not the first time Smith got on Edwards' case during the Western Conference Finals. The outspoken ESPN host previously called the 23-year-old “unacceptable” for taking just 13 shots in Game 1. Ironically, he took the same number of shots in Game 4, when Smith targeted him again.
Edwards' 16 points were the fewest he scored during the 2025 playoffs since pitching in only 15 against the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening round. However, in that game against the Lakers, the Timberwolves closed out the series with a 103-96 win in Game 5. Edwards' two no-shows in the Western Conference Finals both resulted in losses, thus stirring up criticism and controversy.
Without Edwards' offense, the Timberwolves still fell just two points shy of evening the series, despite the Thunder's star trio combining for 95 points. Nickeil Alexander-Walker poured in another big performance off the bench, dropping a team-high 23 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Jaden McDaniels tied his series-high with 22 points, while Donte DiVincenzo pitched in 21 off the bench.
