Usually, it's Anthony Edwards making the splashy plays that bring fans out of their seats at Target Center, while Kyle Anderson is the meticulous, savvy veteran who makes heady plays fans don't always go crazy for — or even notice at all.
Their roles reversed, though, in the Timberwolves' 111-100 victory over Memphis on Friday night, with Anderson bringing the crowd to life in the fourth quarter while Edwards quietly put together a strong night as the Wolves improved to 10-4 in January.
Edwards finished with a team-high 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Anderson had 23 points, three rebounds and six assists against his former team.
"I feel like y'all know my game," Anderson said. "Simple. I like to get people involved, make the right play. I'm a point guard in a 6-9 body, so I've just had to adjust to playing other positions in the league, but unselfish, can score if I need to. Just try to make plays on both ends."
That's what Anderson did in the fourth quarter when he prevented the Grizzlies from getting closer than eight points. First he sparked a quick 8-2 burst to give the Wolves a 102-86 lead with 5 minutes, 32 seconds remaining with a lob to Rudy Gobert. With his back to the basket, Gobert caught the pass and just dunked it behind his head for two of his seven points.
"Kyle affects every game, but tonight was special with him facing his old team, scoring the way he scored and making plays," Gobert said. "He's just a winning player."
Anderson then had a few putbacks and a layup to cap the run. But his coup de grace came with under two minutes left, when he stripped Ja Morant, and found Jaden McDaniels for a layup on a no-look, over-the-shoulder pass at the other end. That had the crowd at its loudest of the night.
For Anderson, Friday was a get-right game after he had struggled for most of his previous three. Coach Chris Finch suggested Anderson was physically tired. Anderson didn't dispute that.
"You never want to admit that as a professional athlete," Anderson said. "You want to go hard and keep going and keep going and try to take care of your body, but I guess that fatigue hit me a little bit."
At the other end of the spectrum was Edwards, who, despite an early thunderous dunk over Jaren Jackson Jr., had another good night in a string of them that he's had lately. To Finch, Edwards has made improvement in not forcing action to happen for himself on the floor.
"These moments are going to come back to you, the ball is always going to come back to you," Finch said. "We run a lot of plays for you. You don't have to seek every play. He's done a much better job of trusting that process."
Added Edwards: "I'm not worried, I know it's gonna come. I'm going to keep making the right play until they loosen up, and then when they loosen up, that's when I'm gonna go. And that's what I did."
Anderson said Edwards was making the case to be in the MVP conversation. There were chants of that when Edwards stepped to the line at one point Friday. Even when he's not compiling highlights left and right, Edwards is still affecting the game and helping the Wolves play some of their best basketball of the season.
"He's playing as an All-Star starter," Anderson said. "Like one of the best 10 players in the league these last few games. He's shown it. And he has a higher ceiling, a lot more room to grow. It's scary."
Morant finished with a triple-double (27 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists) for the Grizzlies, who did not open their locker room to media after the game. They concluded a five-game road trip 0-5, and coach Taylor Jenkins said they were eager to get home as soon as possible with Memphis reeling from the death of Tyre Nichols.
Nichols, who is Black, was beaten by police on Jan. 7 in Memphis and died three days later. Five Black police officers were fired and face charges, including second-degree murder, for their involvement in Nichols' death.
"We can't wait to get back home to put our arms around everyone in Memphis as they struggle with a loss of life, a senseless loss of life," Jenkins said.
