In the greatest series opener of 2023-24, the Minnesota Timberwolves became the first team to make it to the second round of the playoffs. Anthony Edwards and Co. slammed it home with a 122-116 win over the Phoenix Suns tonight. But it wasn’t without its troubles.

Injuries were constantly nipping at the heels of the Ant-Man. With just 1:56 left on the clock, Edwards rolled his ankle, defending Bradley Beal. The veteran guard was whistled and fouled out as the Suns were down 111-115 at the time. Before this, Naz Reid had landed on Ant’s foot. But the Beal injury seemed to have really hurt the Wolves superstar as he sat on the floor, clutching his ankle in obvious pain.

The foul on Edwards was Beal’s sixth personal foul and naturally warranted him getting benched. Anthony, for his part, sank both of his free throws. Josh Okogie took Beal’s place as Beal ended the night with nine points (4 of which were in the fourth quarter), 4-of-13 from the field, and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc in 31 minutes of game time.

Tonight’s first-round playoff sweep marks the second time they are entering the second round in franchise history. And it is largely thanks to none other than their budding superstar, Anthony Edwards.

“I showed them”: Anthony Edwards on the Suns’ one-on-one attack

The Suns have beaten the Wolves every single time in the regular season. But that was where Anthony Edwards drew the line, it would seem. April 14 saw the last time this season Phoenix would get a win over Minnesota. Since then, it has been a pack attack. And tonight saw a desperate Suns team. They were throwing everything they had at their opponents. And it saw the home team in the lead at the end of the first half (61-56).

But in the third quarter, Edwards saw something else. The Phoenix Suns had switched up their defense. The Suns played Anthony one-on-one instead of being double-teamed like they did in the first half. “It was like — you’ve got to beat us. And I showed them.”

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A high 31 of Ant’s 40 points came in the second half. He finished just one point shy of a double-double as he grabbed nine rebounds and dished out six assists. He was 56.5% from the field and 53.8% from the three-point line tonight! Despite the injuries he sustained, Edwards also didn’t shy away from dropping some of his highlight dunks.

With just two minutes left on the clock, he drove past Beal and pulled a tomahawk dunk on none other than Kevin Durant. The effect was electric as the crowd went insane to see the posterizing dunk on the ‘Slim Reaper.’

And to cap it off, the 2x All-Star finished the matchup with another one of his monstrous dunks as the seconds counted down to 0.0. Not even KD was mad at being posterized by a young ‘un. He said post-game that Ant was his “favorite player to watch.”

They will wait to see who will come on top in the Lakers vs. Nuggets game. Until then, the Minnesota Timberwolves will be taking some well-deserved rest.