Basketball can be a fickle game sometimes. Just ask Anthony Edwards. Earlier this month, the Timberwolves’ superstar guard probably felt like he couldn’t miss from beyond the three-point arc. Now he’s mired in the deepest shooting slump of his entire career.
Edwards started this season by hitting 9 of his 19 three-point attempts in the Wolves’ first few games, before a hamstring injury sidelined him for a little over a week. Upon coming back, he proceeded to make 20 of his next 39 shots from deep over a four-game stretch. It was just the sixth time in his six-year career that he’s made at least 20 threes in a four-game span on 51 percent efficiency or better.
Coming into last week’s game against the Kings, Edwards was 29 for 58 overall from long range. Last year’s NBA three-point leader had picked up right where he’d left off, and then some. It was natural to expect a bit of regression after a scaldingly hot shooting start like that, but what’s happened over the past week has been slightly more extreme than anticipated.
Edwards was 1 for 7 from deep against the Kings. He went 0 for 8 against the Nuggets the next night. He then went 1 for 7 against the Mavericks on Monday, and 1 for 8 against the Wizards on Wednesday. That’s 3 for 30 overall, dropping his season-long three-point percentage to 36.4.
In the entirety of NBA history, Edwards is the first player to shoot at least 7 threes and hit no more than one of them in four consecutive games. This is a historic slump from outside the arc.
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Edwards, obviously, has never had a cold stretch quite like this. No one has. Prior to these four games, the fewest threes Edwards had made in a four-game span where he attempted at least 30 triples came in spring 2024, when he had a 5-for-31 stretch. All five of those makes came in one game, in which he snapped out of a 1-for-23 slump in the previous four games. He also had a 2-for-23 skid in February 2022, but this current one has even more volume to it.
The good news is that Edwards going ice cold from long distance hasn’t really hurt the Wolves in the win column. He took the blame for Saturday’s loss to the Nuggets, which was winnable if he made some shots. But the other three games have been wins over bad teams. Edwards has still impacted the game in other ways by making two-point shots, getting to the free-throw line, and locking in on defense. He’s had at least two steals in each of the last four games.
Still, the Wolves need their best player to snap out of this slump and start hitting threes again, because that’s such a key part of his game. Their next contest is on Friday night against the Suns, who have won 8 of their last 10. That’s a major step up in competition from the likes of the Jazz, Kings, Mavs, and Wizards. Next Wednesday brings a showdown with the NBA-leading Thunder.
For now, Edwards’ cold stretch is nothing to be concerned about. His track record suggests he should bounce back in a big way before long.
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