Anthony Edwards scores career-high 53 points … in a blowout loss to the Pistons

Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 53 points on Saturday in Detroit, going 10 for 15 from 3-point range.

His team fell 119-105 to the Pistons for the Timberwolves’ third-straight defeat.

Frustrated after Minnesota’s loss to Boston by a lack of available space to get his own offense, the 23-year-old guard found plenty of looks Saturday, and hit on most of them. His teammates, however, did not. Outside of Edwards, the Wolves went 18 for 49 from the field and 6 for 25 from distance.

They tallied just 20 assists while turning the ball over 17 times. Minnesota was also outrebounded by 14 by a Pistons team playing on the second half of a back to back.

Edwards went north of 30 points for the first time since mid-November. The scoring outburst came after the guard didn’t hit the 20-point mark in any of Minnesota’s previous three outings. Wolves coach Chris Finch told reporters Edwards did “a lot of great things” that he maybe hadn’t in recent weeks.

“He went fast, he was decisive, he stayed committed to going in one direction. He got around guys, turned corners,” Finch told reporters. “A lot of things that we’ve talked about him doing to get himself going. … I think he came in with the mindset that he was going to be super aggressive tonight.”

But Julius Randle was the only teammate to score in double figures. Mike Conley went scoreless. Rudy Gobert was shut out until the fourth quarter. Jaden McDaniels finished with six points. Edwards finished with just two assists, and Finch did say the Wolves “definitely got to get more people involved in the game, for sure.” But he added that wasn’t all on Edwards.

“At certain times, he was the only thing that kept us anywhere close to having a chance,” Finch said.

Edwards alone couldn’t possibly score enough to keep up with Detroit. The Pistons shot 48% from the field against a suddenly not-so-sturdy Wolves’ defense.

Cade Cunningham became the third straight opposing star to filet the Wolves, tallying 40 points, nine assists and six rebounds. The Pistons (17-18) were sans their second-best player in Jaden Ivey, but former Minnesota guard Malik Beasley drilled six triples and Tobias Harris and Ausar Thompson both tallied double-doubles.

Minnesota experienced another crippling offensive dry spell Saturday. This time, it came in the second quarter, a frame in which the Wolves scored just 15 points, only seven of which came in the first 9 minutes, 53 seconds of the quarter.

“When we did generate some good movement, we didn’t make shots,” Finch said. “We took a lot of one-pass shots when they were making a little bit of a run. We’ve got to be willing to work for our offense a bit more.”

The Wolves scored 38 points in the third quarter — led by 18 from Edwards and 13 from Randle — and still lost the frame by three.

Minnesota (17-17) has dropped back to .500, and Finch noted the team has room to grow when it comes to its current intangibles.

“We let shot making and runs in the game affect us too much from a mood point of view,” Finch said.

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