'Ironman' Edwards brushes off injury to lift Wolves

MINNEAPOLIS -- Before Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves won what he called "the biggest game of our career" on Thursday, beating the Golden State Warriors 117-93 to even their Western Conference semifinals series at 1-1, Edwards' left ankle gave Wolves fans their biggest scare of the season.

Edwards, already playing on a compromised ankle after hurting it in Game 4 of the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers, had to leave the game midway through the second quarter after reinjuring it when Warriors big man Trayce Jackson-Davis stepped on him.

Jackson-Davis blocked Edwards' shot at the rim with 6:03 remaining in the quarter, sending him to the floor. With Edwards already below him, Jackson-Davis inadvertently landed on Edwards' left ankle.

As play continued on the other side of the court, Edwards remained on the floor. Wolves center Rudy Gobert stopped the action by fouling Warriors guard Jimmy Butler, and Minnesota called timeout with 5:56 left in the second, leading 37-19.

Jaden McDaniels subbed in for Edwards, who exited through the tunnel opposite the Minnesota bench, helped by members of the Wolves' medical staff.

"This one, I was really worried about, actually," Wolves coach Chris Finch said after the game. "This one, I was really planning on not seeing him the rest of the game, to be honest with you."

Minnesota protected its lead with Edwards out, with Golden State only managing to cut the gap from 18 points to 17 by halftime as Julius Randle scored nine of his game-high 24 points in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Edwards was attended to in the locker room by the Wolves' vice president of medical operations and performance, David Hines. Hines guided Edwards through a series of modalities to test the ankle, one which he had still been receiving treatment on since the Lakers series, icing it after the Wolves' Game 1 loss.

"Once we got to like the third movement in my ankle, I'm like, 'All right, it's starting to feel good. If we tape it, I'll see how it feels,'" Edwards said. "[Hines] does a great job of making sure I'm good before I get out there, so big shoutout to David."

Edwards, 23, played even better after the injury, scoring 13 of his 20 points on 4-for-6 shooting after halftime and grabbing five of his nine rebounds. He also had five assists, three steals and a block.

Edwards posted a team-best plus-minus of plus-21 in 34 minutes and received universal praise from his teammates for the gutty performance.

"My man's got an immortal ankle," Wolves forward Josh Minott said as Edwards was starting his postgame interview with reporters in the locker room.

"He's one of the more resilient people that I know," Randle told ESPN. "Nothing holds him down. He never misses games. For as much attention and effort teams do to try to stop him, he's never one to sit out a game. ... I don't know, he's like Ironman. I've seen him get hit, get knocked down so many times. Better off, he's like Wolverine. He gets hurt and he does something in the back. I don't know what the hell he does ... but he comes out and he balls. That's what he does."

The compliments reached Paul Bunyan-esque proportions as Edwards added to his growing legacy Thursday, helping the Wolves avoid an 0-2 hole against a more experienced Golden State team.

"He always finds a way," said Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who scored 20 points off the bench. "One thing about Ant, he's not going to sit out. He's got to be damn near dead."

Added McDaniels, who had 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting, three blocks and three steals: "He's got to have his leg chopped off or some s--- [to come out]."

Edwards was more critical of his game, pointing out that the alley-oop Randle threw him in the third quarter for one of his game-high 11 assists and saying he should have dunked it but had to lay it in because he didn't jump high enough.

He also said he has to be better at scoring around the basket in general, after going 2-for-4 on 3s and 4-for-9 on 2s in Game 2.

"They let me get to the rim, and I'm not finishing, so it's kind of weird," Edwards said. "I've got to get back to working on my finishing and stop working on my 3s because they're not letting me shoot 3s."

Edwards vowed to be in the lineup for Game 3 in San Francisco on Saturday, with a chance to go up in the series with Warriors star Stephen Curry sidelined indefinitely with a strained left hamstring.

"That one was crazy," Edwards said of his ankle sprain. "But I'll be all right."