Driven by Anthony Edwards’ 37 points, Timberwolves thrash Trail Blazers, establishing superiority three points at a time

Dancing both beyond the three-point line and on drives to the rim, Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards on Friday delivered a three-game winning streak and 6-3 record with nine three-pointers made and 37 points scored in Friday’s 127-102 home victory over Portland.

And he didn’t play a second in the fourth quarter of the blowout.

Edwards went 12-for-22 from the field and nine-for-15 on three-pointers in a game in which the Wolves made 22 threes on 50 attempts.

BOXSCORE: Minnesota 127, Portland 102

He leads the NBA in three-pointers made with 50 in the season’s first nine games.

That’s better than Boston’s Jayson Tatum’s 43 and Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball’s 42.

“I really can’t explain it, I’m not shocked or anything ‘cause I work so hard on my trey ball,” Edwards said. “It’s like, ‘Here we go, this is what was supposed to happen.’ Hopefully it will keep going that way.”

The Wolves’ wire-to-wire victory came one night after they needed a fourth-quarter comeback to win 135-119 at Chicago. The Trail Blazers played Thursday night as well, losing to San Antonio before a long flight north for the second of back-to-back games.

On Friday, the Trail Blazers missed their first 10 shots and fell behind 10-0. The Wolves’ Rudy Gobert, last season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year, blocked three shots in a first half in which he reached 9,000 NBA rebounds.

“Nine thousand rebounds, it’s cool,” Gobert said. “It makes me just sit back and realize the journey. Nine thousand rebounds coming from where I come from, being able to accomplish that is pretty cool. I’m still on the way. I’m still working every day. We’ll see how many I get when it’s all over.”

The blocked shots didn’t happen by accident.

“I just wanted to set a tone,” Gobert said. “I don’t think I’ve started games the right way. For my team, I need to change that. I know when I set the tone, defensively it sets the tone for the whole team.”

The Wolves led by 27 before halftime, and the Blazers got the deficit to single digits only briefly the rest of the night.

Edwards orchestrated the game throughout, except, of course, for the fourth quarter he didn’t play. He swapped step-back and catch-and-shoot threes with aggressive drives to the rim.

The Blazers couldn’t stop any of it.

Asked about Edwards’ nine threes, Wolves coach Chris Finch said: “It makes the floor huge. He’s got great range. He’s taking them in the flow of the offense. He’s reading the coverages in pick-and-rolls really well right now. He’s playing at a high level. His catch-and-shoot is off quick. He’s adding not just to a lot of threes but a lot of efficient offense.”

Asked if 50 threes in nine games is sustainable, Finch told reporters: “Sustainable numbers, these are things you guys think about. I don’t know. I’m sure he could make four threes a game.”

Newcomers Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo combined for 11 assists, the kind of playmaking to which Edwards attributes his recent success by getting him easier, better shots.

Edwards said it allows him to be better in other phases of his game as well.

“I’m able to play more defense actually because I don’t have to work as hard,” Edwards said. “Julius gets in the paint and I’m just spotting up. I can just watch and shoot. It takes a lot off my legs a lot of times, not having to create. It’s super fun.”

Edwards spent the summer playing for the U.S. Olympic team in Paris and studied the shots of teammates Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Damian Lillard, among others. He said the shots of Durant and Curry “didn’t work for me,” but Lillard’s did.

He also said he didn’t change a thing except for adding a step to the left that he called a “rhythm dribble.”

On Friday, he not only shot the nine made threes, but he turned playmaker, finding Gobert with a long lob pass in transition for a dunk and with a pocket pass.

Edwards gave credit to assistant coach Pablo Prigioni and an eight-minute drill for improving his passing and acknowledged he still needs off-the-ball work.

“I don’t want to be on film,” Edwards said, “so I’m working on that.”