Why Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards’ teammate is his ‘favorite player in the NBA’

The Minnesota Timberwolves defied the odds in Game 1 of their Western Conference Semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs. Led by Julius Randle and buoyed by Anthony Edwards’ early return from injury, Minnesota secured a 104-102 road win to take a 1-0 series lead.

And well, while plenty of fans will be thanking ANT for his return and the 11 fourth-quarter points, the Timberwolves’ main man had praise reserved for his own teammate. Edwards ended up calling Jaden McDaniels, who had 16 points, five rebounds and two assists off 7-14 shooting, his favorite player in the NBA, per a post on X by Underdog NBA.

Anthony Edwards on Jaden McDaniels stepping up in the first round:

"He's my favorite player in the NBA." pic.twitter.com/PldZnzCumo

— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) May 5, 2026

“Yeah like I said, he is my favorite player in the NBA. What he does on a nightly basis for us is incredible. His maturity has grown so much over the last year and a half. The way he sees the game, the way he reads the game, how he takes his time to get to his spots. He knows when to be aggressive. He is just my favorite player, I love Jaden McDaniels,” he explained.

Minnesota had both Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf) unavailable, and also had to overcome a historically dominant defensive performance from Victor Wembanyama. Wemby finished the game with just 11 points and 15 rebounds off 5-17 shooting, but had a whopping 12 blocks on the night, the highest number of stops in a playoff game ever.

Edwards himself returned ahead of schedule and produced 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting (61.5%) in 25 minutes off the bench. Meanwhile, McDaniels had 16 points and five rebounds, going 7-14 from shooting.

However, he was among six players from the Timberwolves who scored in double-digits, exactly the sort of production they needed with ANT playing limited minutes. Still, much of the blame can go down to San Antonio’s inefficient shooting.

Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox combined to shoot 10-for-31 from the field with nine turnovers, almost matching Minnesota’s total team turnovers (10). Game 2 remains in San Antonio, and the Spurs will know they need to immediately hit back.

The post Why Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards’ teammate is his ‘favorite player in the NBA’ appeared first on ClutchPoints.