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Kevin Durant dismissed Anthony Edwards’ trash talk after the young and brash Minnesota guard led the Timberwolves’ 120-95 shellacking of the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoffs first-round matchup on April 20.
“It’s just basketball. Not even playoffs, it’s just hoop,” Durant told reporters when asked about his exchange with Edwards in the third quarter. “You get hot, you make shots, make tough shots, you’re gonna feel excited about yourself. It’s on me to keep coming back and showing him a tough look.”
Edwards outscored Durant 18-10 in the torrid third quarter where the Timberwolves broke the game wide open with a 19-4 run.
“I think everyone here knows that’s my favorite player of all time,” Edwards said of Durant. “So that was probably one of the best feelings ever in my whole life.”
The 22-year-old Edwards led the Timberwolves with 33 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Durant, 35, finished with 31 points and 7 rebounds for the outmatched Suns.
The Suns held a 28-27 first-quarter lead before the Timberwolves pounced on their lack of size and depth.
Minnesota dominated the rebounding (52-28) and scoring inside the paint (52-34).
Though he was on Cloud 9 after outdueling his childhood hero, Edwards tempers expectations and prepares for Durant and the Suns’ comeback.
“It’s going to be hard to beat these guys,” Edwards said. “It’s just one game. They’re going to be ready to go the next time we play them.”
“He got it going. He made some tough ones. You just got to live with it and be better next game,” an even-keeled Durant said of Edwards.
Kevin Durant is the ‘Greatest’
Despite outplaying Durant in that searing third-quarter duel, Edwards could not help but marvel at the Suns superstar’s silky smooth play.
“Did you see him in the third quarter?” Edwards said of Durant. “I felt like we were supposed to be up 15, 18 in the third quarter early. And if I’m not mistaken, he made four or five straight buckets like it was nothing. And I became a fan at one point. I was out there like, ‘[Damn], he’s nice.’ There’s nothing we can do… I’m looking at the stat sheet, he’s 11-for-17 [from the field]. He missed six shots and had 31. I mean, he’s the greatest to ever do it, man. Big tip of my hat to him, he’s the best.”
But it was Edwards who was the best player on the court in Game 1.
The Timberwolves star guard shot 14 of 24 from the field and drained 50% of his 3-point attempts. The Suns had no one to stop him.
Devin Booker Rues Early Foul Trouble
Durant’s co-star Devin Booker only had 18 points on 5 of 16 shooting. But he attributed his ugly Game 1 performance on early foul woes the Minnesota’s physical defense.
“We all just need to adjust to the playoff physicality,” Booker said, per The Athletic. “They’re being ultra-physical with me, and then I had three early fouls and (went) to the bench. Then it was just trying to find a rhythm from there.”
“Credit their perimeter players,” Suns coach Frank Vogel told reporters. “They got some great perimeter defenders on that team, [but] we can be more creative in getting [Booker] open.”
Booker was 1 of 6 against Minnesota’s premier perimeter defender Jaden McDaniels, per NBA’s matchup tracker. He was 1 of 3 against McDaniel’s backup Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
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