“He had ultra confidence. This is what we talked about to start the week,” said Edwards. “He has 6 feet 11 inches and has everything that a person who has 6-2 in this match. So I mean, as long as he trusts himself, we all trust him, one at 15, the coaches, the whole organization. He is just Jaden McDaniels.”
Reid was right next to him with 13 in the second trimester. He finished the night 8-in-12 and 6-9 from the three-point beach. Reid was touched in his eyes by former teammate Jarred Vanderbilt in the third quarter, but he returned to the fourth match to bury a three. His left eye was injected with blood after the match, but he didn’t care. As he said, “it is not easy to withdraw from the game.”
“The playoffs, you have to bring your best basketball. This is what happened tonight,” said Reid. “Obviously, the series is not over. This is only the first match, but I think we owe everything, as a group, bring the same energy as this evening in the match on Tuesday.”
Edwards then got involved in the score in the second half. Coach Chris Finch said that Edwards was vocal at halftime to direct his teammates where they wanted them to go while he understood the defense of the Lakers.
“He was just arriving in the first half, and I think he let him slow down, and I think he was more aggressive,” said Finch. “He looked in his eyes as he did, and he was really good.”
Edwards collected nine points in the third quarter and finished with 22. The Wolves opened the third with 11 consecutive points to push their advance to 22, and he finally increased that 27.
