SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Anthony Edwards does not want to be the face of the NBA, but the Minnesota Timberwolves star is becoming a focus of one the league’s marquee matchups when he goes up against San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama.
Though Edwards had a career-high 55 points, Wembanyama scored 39 points and captured a key offensive rebound in the final seconds as San Antonio held off Minnesota 126-123 on Saturday.
Wembanyama and Edwards exchanged highlights and baskets in a showdown between two of the Western Conference’s top teams.
“They’ve got Wemby,” Edwards said. “He’s supposed to be the face of the league. So, I always got to get up for that one.”
Edwards averaged 36.7 points in three games against the Spurs this season.
He banked in a 3-foot runner with 16.8 seconds remaining to complete a 19-point rally as Minnesota beat San Antonio 104-103 on Jan. 11.
Edwards almost did it again Saturday, going 19 for 33 from the field and 9 for 16 from 3-point range to score the most points of his seven-year NBA career.
“It’s an honor and it’s the best thing to have the best players go as hard as they can because, first of all, it makes us better, it makes me better,” Wembanyama said. “And it’s a show of respect and also progress stepping up because now the standings make us that we’re a respectable team.”
Wembanyama was 12 for 23 from the field and 4 for 9 on 3-pointers Saturday, falling a point shy of matching the season high he set in the season opener against Dallas on Oct. 22.
“He actually done put on a lot of weight,” Edwards said of Wembanyama. “Looking at him from last year and this year, I was trying to box him out, he done put on a lot of weight. I can see from a distance that he has worked. I can’t do nothing but respect that.”
Edwards has been a three-time All-Star since joining the league as the No. 1 draft pick in 2020, but he reiterated he would rather be himself than be the league’s featured star.
While he prefers to have the charismatic Wembanyama shine in that off-court spotlight, Edwards demonstrated Saturday he’s not yielding to the 2023 No. 1 pick on the court.
Edwards drained an 11-foot, fadeaway jumper that put Minnesota ahead 110-108 with 3:28 remaining. Wembanyama responded with an 18-foot jumper. Edwards put the Wolves back up with a 25-foot 3-pointer and Wembanyama tied the game at 113 with a 26-foot 3. The back-and-forth took only 53 seconds, electrifying the sell-out crowd at the Frost Bank Center.
“I loved it. I loved it,” Edwards said, smiling. “I wish we could have just moved everybody out of the way and just checked up me versus him.”
Wembanyama and Edwards didn’t get to face off one-on-one, but they set up some tense final seconds.
Edwards had 26 points in the fourth quarter and Wembanyama had 12.
Edwards made the first of two free throws to cut San Antonio’s lead to 125-123 with six seconds remaining but missed the second. Spurs forward Julian Champagnie was immediately fouled after rebounding the miss but missed both free throws. Wembanyama skied above Minnesota defenders to rebound the second miss and salvage the victory.
San Antonio (29-13) remains second in the West with Minnesota 2 1/2 games back in fourth.
“It was fun,” Wembanyama said. “Not the most fun, but it was a fun game for sure. And this one is worth a lot because of the way the West looks right now.”
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