Anthony Edwards continues playoff ascension with 40-point game, clutch dagger vs. Denver Nuggets
Anthony Edwards is riding an NBA Playoffs heater into the Western Conference Semifinals after a sweep of the Phoenix Suns. He’s not ready to cool off quite yet.
In Saturday’s Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets, Edwards could not be contained once again. He displayed his dazzling array of scoring tools, including post-up moves, 3-point shooting and an ability to pull up from midrange.
At one point, he pulled off a beautiful crossover move into a textbook jumper:
Ant-Man in his BAG ?
35 PTS and counting ? pic.twitter.com/M8Tp9Pyx3v
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 5, 2024
RELATED: Now is a great time to get into Daily Fantasy Sports. Take advantage of SDS’s Underdog Fantasy promo codes to get started!
Edwards was called for a technical at one point in the game, but that call was heavily criticized by fans and analyst Reggie Miller. After backing down and delivering a beautiful post bucket on his defender, Edwards provided a stare down but did not appear to say anything.
A tech called on Anthony Edwards for this is shameful smh
These celebrations make the game exciting, please stop making these calls!!!! pic.twitter.com/beqBMzXbuO
— Bri Lewerke (@brilewerke) May 5, 2024
Fortunately, that did not derail Edwards’ evening with the young superstar stepping up in crunch time. He nailed a tough turnaround jumper to ice the win late in the 4th quarter.
Anthony Edwards. CLUTCH ? pic.twitter.com/lTvLiqGxJz
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 5, 2024
Edwards finished the game with 43 points (his second straight playoff game with 40+) and added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and 2 blocks. He is one of the few players to outshine Nikola Jokic recently with Jokic delivering 32 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals but committing 7 turnovers and shooting less than 50% from the floor.
In the process, Edwards became just the 2nd player in NBA history with back-to-back 40-point playoff games at age-22 or younger. The only other player is the late Kobe Bryant.
Anthony Edwards joins Kobe Bryant as the only players 22 years old or younger to score 40 points in back-to-back playoff games!#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/OEPwZCD6Vh
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 5, 2024
The best of 7 series is still up for grabs, but Edwards delivered a major show in Game 1. At the very least, Edwards is proving his first-round exploits were no fluke, and he’s going to be a major problem for NBA defenders for a long time coming.
The
Comments Section
You must be logged in to post a comment. Please sign in or register