Anthony Edwards adapts quickly on the fly as Timberwolves' primary ball-handler

For the second game in a row, with both D'Angelo Russell and Jordan McLaughlin out because of injuries, Anthony Edwards was the Timberwolves' top ball-handler in Oklahoma City on Friday night.

It was an almost unqualified success.

Unlike Wednesday in Los Angeles against the Clippers, the Wolves won. Unlike in L.A., when Edwards found open teammates, this time they often converted. And, after turning the ball over five times against the Clippers, Edwards had just two turnovers Friday.

With the Wolves missing three starters, Edwards stepped up in the 112-110 victory over the Thunder. He scored 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting. He made two of three three-pointers. He dished out a game-high seven assists.

"I think these last couple games have been good for him to be on the ball,'' Wolves coach Chris Finch said. "They trapped him at the end there. He got off of it and made the right play, got Naz [Reid] a bucket in the middle of the floor. One thing we've been preaching to him a lot, the essence of offense in the league, is when they put two on you, you create an advantage. No matter how you do it, pick-and-roll, trap, early gap help, all that stuff is a gravity that he creates."

The calmness Edwards showed against that pressure belied how rarely he has been asked to initiate the Wolves offense. Honing that skill would give the Wolves another option even when the team returns to full health.

"I thought he did a really, really good job," Finch said. "I thought he did a better job than the other day [in Los Angeles], and I thought he did a good job the other day when they were trapping him. He learned from that. [Friday] was a further example of that. Playing off the catch, being shot ready, get off of it when they trapped. He played very composed."

That doesn't mean "point Ant" will become the dominant part of the Wolves offense. But it is a facet Finch wants to encourage.

"He certainly has the opportunity to grow into being more of a creator from the top of the floor versus driving from the wing," he said. "He's really good when he drives baseline, finding the open guy. But our system is also one that relies a lot on a lot of people trying to make plays, which is sometimes why we have heavy turnovers. But yeah, we need more guys making more plays for more people."

Edwards should probably have had an eighth assist, since he was the one who got the ball to Austin Rivers in the corner for a three-pointer with 11.8 seconds left that put the Wolves up by four.

But that's OK. Edwards's teammates know how valuable he was Friday.

"That's big for us," Reid said of Edwards' playmaking. "If he can do that every time we need him to, within doing what he's capable of and what we need him to do, that's big time. Real big for us. I believe he can, and we all believe he can. That's a special ability, being able to lead the team that way."