Anthony Edwards Talks 'Terrible' T-Wolves' Starting Lineup, Says They Lack 'Energy'

The Minnesota Timberwolves' inconsistencies this season have worn on star shooting guard Anthony Edwards, and he didn't hold back his frustrations after Wednesday night's 116-115 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

"The starting five, we are terrible," Edwards told reporters. "Every game we come out low energy and the second group comes in and gives us energy. I would say the starting group gotta come out with more energy like we want to play the game of basketball, like we love the game."

To Edwards' point, Minnesota's current starting lineup of him, Donte DiVincenzo, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert has an offensive rating of 109.9, which is actually lower than the 111.1 offensive rating before DiVincenzo replaced Mike Conley as a starter. Comparatively, a lineup featuring the team's top two bench players Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker alongside Edwards, Randle and DiVincenzo has an offensive rating of 125.6.

Against the Warriors, the Timberwolves trailed 34-12 after the first quarter and faced a deficit as high as 24 points before fighting back to make things interesting in the closing moments. However, Minnesota never took the lead as Golden State star point guard Stephen Curry had a game-high 31 points and hit a pair of dagger three-pointers in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Edwards did his best to keep up, dropping 28 points and eight rebounds. DiVincenzo also had 28 points and nine assists in one of his best performances of the season. However, no other player on the team scored over 20 points.

At 21-19, the Timberwolves rank eighth in the Western Conference. They will need to find consistency over the second half of the season if they hope to make another deep playoff run.

Minnesota will return to action on Friday in a road matchup against the New York Knicks (27-15).