Anthony Edwards Credits Steph Curry For His 3-Point Shooting Amid NBA Playoffs Matchup
Anthony Edwards is attributing his spike in three-point shooting throughout this season to working with one of the players on the opposing bench in the Minnesota Timberwolves' playoff series against the Golden State Warriors.
Speaking to reporters after the T-Wolves' 117-110 win over Golden State in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals (starts at 3:45 mark), Edwards explained he learned from Stephen Curry when they worked out together last summer to keep shooting no matter how things are going.
Edwards shared a similar sentiment on SportsCenter after the win. He told Nicole Briscoe that Curry "influenced me to be able to shoot the ball really well" during their workouts together "I got better at it."
That shooting prowess was on display for the Timberwolves throughout their Game 4 win, but especially in the second half when they pulled away. Edwards scored 16 of his 30 points and went 3-of-5 from deep in just 13 minutes because he was in foul trouble.
It was apparent in the regular season that Edwards felt empowered to shoot more from behind the arc. His 10.3 three-point attempts was nearly two more than his previous career-high set in 2021-22 (8.4).
The only player who averaged more threes per game than Edwards in the regular season was Curry (11.2). If you go by total number of threes attempted, Edwards was the only player with at least 800 (811).
Prior to Edwards, the last player other than Curry to attempt at least 800 threes in a season was James Harden in 2019-20 (843).
This isn't a situation where Edwards is shooting more just for the sake of it. The three-time All-Star had his best success rate from behind the arc in the regular season (39.5).
Even factoring in a rough two-game stretch in the playoffs between Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers (0-of-11) and Game 1 against the Warriors (0-of-5), Edwards is still making threes at a good clip under the increased spotlight.
Edwards went 6-of-11 from three on Monday night, one shy of tying his career-high for makes in a playoff game. It was his fifth time in nine games this postseason with at least four made threes.
The continued ascent for Edwards into a tier-one superstar has the Timberwolves one win away from reaching the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. They can close out the Warriors in Game 5 at Target Center on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.
