For the second straight postseason, Anthony Edwards has stolen all the attention in the West.
He has earned it, as the Minnesota Timberwolves superstar has become “The Legend Killer,” a moniker even acknowledged by Randy Orton, who has carried that nickname in professional wrestling for more than two decades.
If Edwards is to kill a few more legends in Golden State Warriors uniforms, he will need to respect the defense and not try to be the sole hero. My NBA picks for the latest Anthony Edwards odds begin with his playmaking, not his scoring.
Tip in Game 1 comes at 9:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 6.
Anthony Edwards player prop picks
- Best bet
Anthony Edwards 7+ assists
(+195 at bet365) - SGP pick
Anthony Edwards 7+ assists
Anthony Edwards Over 6.5 rebounds
Anthony Edwards Over 3.5 threes
(+550 at bet365)
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
Anthony Edwards best bet
Anthony Edwards 7+ assists (+195 at bet365)
The defining play of the Minnesota Timberwolves' 4-1 series win against the Los Angeles Lakers was not an Anthony Edwards 3-pointer or dunk.
It was not one of Rudy Gobert’s many putback dunks in the clinching game, and it was not even one of Gobert’s multiple strips of Luka Doncic in one-on-one coverage.
The defining play came in the final minute of Game 4, the Timberwolves holding a 2-1 series lead but trailing 113-111. Edwards had put up an ugly, midrange fadeaway a few possessions earlier. More of that would have doomed Minnesota in the clutch.
Instead, he focused on playmaking. During a timeout, he encouraged his teammates to cut down the middle of the lane to take the easiest advantage of how Los Angeles was selling out to stop him.
As Edwards then probed the left side of the arc, Naz Reid cut down the lane. Edwards found him, and Reid immediately dumped it off to Jaden McDaniels at the rim.
Minnesota took the lead with an and-one dunk. The Timberwolves did not trail again in Game 4 and lagged for only 1:14 in Game 5.
Edwards did not log a stat from that defining play. McDaniels got three points, and Reid got the assist. But it was emblematic of what Edwards has learned: When defenses sell out on him, he has the teammates to make them pay.
Although the Golden State Warriors have a better defense than Los Angeles, devoting Jimmy Butler to Edwards will go only so far. The 'Legend Killer' is faster, and if Butler does not defend well past the arc, he will gladly pull up from deep.
That will effectively remove Butler from the rest of the Warriors’ defense, leaving plenty of mismatches to be enjoyed.
Gobert can dunk on Draymond Green. McDaniels is more physical than any Golden State wing. Julius Randle’s bully ball should eat the Warriors alive.
Edwards has options to find, and he found them plenty in the first round, clearing this prop in three of five games while averaging 6.2 assists per game.
His assists Over/Under is set at 5.5, with the Over priced at -110 at bet365. Asking for one more assist at the value of +195 is too rich to turn down.
Anthony Edwards same-game parlay
Anthony Edwards 7+ assists
Anthony Edwards Over 6.5 rebounds
Anthony Edwards Over 3.5 threes
Let’s be clear: Golden State is better than Los Angeles. Since March 1 — when Luka Doncic firmly joined Los Angeles’s rotation — the Warriors enjoyed the No. 4 defensive rating in the NBA, more than six points better per 100 possession than the Lakers’.
But this is still an undersized rotation, and the Timberwolves’ length exposes that.
Edwards grabbed at least six rebounds in every game last series, clearing this prop in four of them and averaging 8.4 boards. He was bigger than most Lakers. He is bigger than most Warriors.
Asking Edwards to hit four 3-pointers should be a matter of form this postseason, particularly at Target Center, where he went 10-of-20 from deep in the first round.
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