Anthony Edwards

From the road-heavy stretch that he and the Minnesota Timberwolves had only just endured, to the grueling three-games-in-four-nights gauntlet patiently awaiting him, obstacles to Anthony Edwards’ greatness stood aplenty in late-November. Though, as the Houston Rockets’ No. 2-ranked defense learned the hard way, the electrifying fifth-year guard remains equipped with a trick or two for any on-court maneuver stonewalling his path. Equal parts nifty and shifty upon recognizing Fred VanVleet’s intent to pressure his handle, Edwards works a laterally-moving between-the-leg, behind-the-back combination before one-upping himself with a pick-and-roll-splitting handle that eliminates two different prospective Houston Rockets defenders. Like an action movie hero eliminating antagonists one-by-one, “Ant-Man” — with VanVleet stubbornly trailing once more in his rearview — tiptoes into a Eurostep gather, surviving Dillon Brooks before energetically banking in a bucket over Jabari Smith’s 6-foot-11 frame. Dazzling in defeat, Edwards’ box score on November 26, 2024 told the story of a generationally-gifted bucket-getter welcoming all challenges, as Edwards flossed his skillset in a 29-point, 10-rebound, one-steal, three-block, three-triple finish.