Shaquille O’Neal reveals reason for backing Minnesota Timberwolves: “Anthony Edwards is a bad boy!”

O'Neal has great confidence in the Ant-Man.

Shaquille O’Neal reveals reason for backing Minnesota Timberwolves: “Anthony Edwards is a bad boy!”

Shaquille O'Neal and Anthony Edwards

The NBA playoffs have finally tipped off and the critics have their predictions for the first round. Shaquille O’Neal dropped his four finalists from the West recently. The matchups in this particular Conference are the most competitive. The Lakers will take on the Nuggets, whereas the Thunder will be playing the Pelicans in the first round. In the inner bracket, the Mavs will take on the Clippers and the Suns will face the Timberwolves.

These are a pretty interesting set of matchups, and O’Neal’s predictions were equally interesting. The Diesel picked the Lakers, OKC, and the Mavs to move on to the next round. However, when it came to predicting the Wolves and Suns series, Shaquille O’Neal‘s response was uniquely straightforward. 

Anthony Edwards is a bad boy. Anthony Edwards is a bad, Ernie... Ernie understands.
Shaq when asked about the Suns and T-wolves series on TNT

Anthony Edwards has had a terrific season this year, leading the Wolves to the third seed in the West. Averaging 26 points, 5.1 assists and 5.4 rebounds a game, while shooting 46% from the field. Edwards’ improvement has been pretty visible. Moreover, the Ant-Man has also taken a lot of responsibility on both ends of the floor.

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Shaquille O’Neal never fails to praise the Ant-Man

Edwards is a pretty competitive player on the floor. The 22-year-old isn’t fazed by anyone when going in the transition lane. Seeing him perform, O’Neal once picked Edwards to make a duo with if he had the chance. Going up against the Suns, Edwards and the Wolves made a statement, as they took Game 1, beating the Suns 120-95. This victory came after a collective effort from the Wolves, with Anthony Edwards leading the way, putting up 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Minnesota asserted its dominance over the Suns. The team did a great job confining Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and playing an overall elite defense. If the Wolves continue to perform the same, the series will be in their favor, taking less than six games.

Now up 1-0, the Wolves are finally looking at a probable deep postseason run. It will be interesting to see how far the T-Wolves can go this season, being led by Edwards. Minnesota will look to memorize the blueprint from the first game, as they look forward to Game 2 on Tuesday.

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