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“He Went After Kevin Durant”: Anthony Edwards’ Fierceness Has Stephen A. Smith Floored After Wolves’ Suns Thrashing

Published 04/20/2024, 10:11 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

Anthony Edwards left Stephen A. Smith in disbelief with his domination of Kevin Durant & Co. The rising superstar dropped 33 points on the Phoenix Suns to take home a blowout 95-120 victory. Following the game, A. Smith appeared on the latest episode of NBA Countdown and expressed his awe of Ant-Man in his famous hype tone. The veteran analyst was impressed by the youngster’s ability to take on KD. He said, “When he was boogieing in the third quarter most of it was on Kevin Durant… He ain’t go after some sub, he went after Kevin Durant.” 

After that, he poured his heart out, exclaiming about witnessing the future. He added, “With a star blossoming before our very eyes that is put in the basketball world on notice… The Brother’s Something Special, he something special.” The Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a rare victory against the Suns this season amid a poor record. In the regular season, the Suns had the better of the Wolves, beating them 3-0. Especially, in the season finale, the Valley side produced a blow-out 106-125 win, which eventually cost them the West #1 spot. Speaking of that, Stephen A. Smith highlighted how the Wolves defense changed the game for the side.

He pointed out that the Wolves were rated -68 when Rudy Gobert was on the court during the three regular season games. However, tonight, the Wolves were +19 with the big man on the court. The defense shut the buckets from the Suns’ offense. Notably, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and especially Grayson Allen, had a poor night shooting the ball. Nevertheless, it was Anthony Edwards, who stole the show tonight. He shot at 58% from the field and also drained four 3-pointers in his 33-point outing along with 9 rebounds and six assists.

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Above all, he had an intense moment with Kevin Durant, chirping after draining a three-pointer over him. KD seemed to enjoy it, as he laughed it off.

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Anthony Edwards’ stats in the Playoffs

Playing in his fourth season, Ant-Man is already in his 3rd postseason. However, he hasn’t gone beyond the first round. Nevertheless, he has constantly triggered Michael Jordan comparisons throughout his career. So far, the rising superstar has played 12 playoff games with an average of 28.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. About Edwards’ playoff spark, Stephen A. Smith highlighted an interesting stat. Before saying, “The Brother’s Something Special,” he pointed out the last 5 playoff outings (41, 36, 34, 29, and 33), recorded at an average of 34.6.

USA Today via Reuters

With a whole postseason ahead of him, the rising superstar could turn into a superstar by the end of it. Moreover, Anthony Edwards himself revealed the motivation behind tonight’s explosion. And all credit goes to the Suns’ guard, Bradley Beal. In the regular season finale game, both Edwards and Beal received a tech for arguing at the courtside. While the Wolves refused to reveal what Beal said, Edwards revealed it tonight after the game.

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Speaking in the post-game interview, Ant-Man revealed, “Beal said, he told our coach that he don’t think we play hard enough… And he was right… They gonna be ready to go the next time we play them.” While Beal ignited the spark for tonight’s game, will Anthony Edwards keep up the momentum for the remainder of the season? Let us know your predictions in the comments below.

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Written by:

Shahul Hameed

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Shahul Hameed is a Senior NBA Writer at EssentiallySports. Armed with a Master's Degree in journalism from a distinguished institute, his journey into sports writing began during his college days, and since then, Shahul has been captivated not only by the remarkable consistency of Stephen Curry but also by the enduring legacy of LeBron James. He specializes in covering the live basketball action.
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Edited by:

Daniel D'Cruz