Anthony Edwards is making a leap that should strike fear into the rest of the NBA

Going into Wednesday night’s game, Anthony Edwards had previously put together some inefficient nights in season openers for the Timberwolves. It wouldn’t be easy for the 24-year-old to change that, as he faces a Trail Blazers team with some very good defensive pieces. Additionally, he was listed as questionable to play due to back spasms. Well, Edwards certainly played, and he certainly made quite an impact.

Ant Man drops 41 in season opener

Minnesota opened the season on Wednesday with a 118-114 win over Portland. The star of the game was undoubtedly Edwards. He finished the outing with 41 points on 14-28 shooting (5-10 from 3-point territory). Edwards also made all eight of his free throw attempts.

Think Sam Vecenie is impressed. On his podcast, he said the following about Ant-Man’s season debut.

“I thought Anthony Edwards was great last night, Vecenie said. Incredible. Like Portland threw bodies at him, they threw Jrue (Holiday) at him, several times they threw Toumani Camara at him… it just didn’t matter, he got a bucket anyway. Whatever these brutal defenders tried to do, he found an answer.”

Edwards also had his best performance in the fourth quarter, making all four of his shot attempts. The Timberwolves entered the final stanza trailing by seven points. His 3-pointer from a few feet behind the line gave Minnesota a 1-point lead with 3:36 left. About 2 minutes later he hit another trey to put the Wolves up 2. Edwards put the nail in the coffin with his 21-footer with 6.8 seconds left, where he left Toumani Camara nowhere in position to challenge the shot.

A step forward in the 24th season?

As good as he has been, it can be difficult to remember that Edwards is still only 24 years old. We probably haven’t seen him at his peak yet and his best season could be this year.

After finishing seventh in MVP voting the past two years, he may become a more viable challenger for the award come year’s end. For that to happen, the Timberwolves may need to be among the top four in the West (if not better).

However, the team lost so many close games last season, so getting a comeback win to start the year is hopefully a harbinger of things to come. There will be a narrative surrounding Edwards that will increase his chances of winning the award if he stays in the grip like he did on Wednesday.