Anthony Edwards helped lead Minnesota to Game 1 win over Spurs. So why was he mad at himself?

Anthony Edwards did the unhumanly Monday in San Antonio.

Just nine days after a nasty fall resulted in a hyperextension and bone bruise in his left knee, there the Wolves superstar was, lacing ’em up for Minnesota in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

And not only did he play, he shined. Playing on a minutes restriction, Edwards poured in 18 points on efficient shooting in 25 minutes. Eleven of those points came in the final frame, part of the fourth quarter offensive execution that allowed Minnesota to pull off the upset.

“Ant was awesome,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “He was really good. Forgot how good he was, actually.”

Wolves guard Mike Conley told reporters he called Edwards his “hero” for gutting through the injury to return so quickly. Simply playing on Monday was amazing. Serving as a key cog in a massive win was, well, nothing short of remarkable.

Edwards credited David Hines, the team’s vice president of medical operations and performance therapy, for helping him return to action in short order.

Edwards noted the main objective after suffering a hyperextension is to prevent the knee from getting stiff. That’s the usual outcome, as the last thing someone wants to do post injury is move the knee. But Edwards placed his trust in Hines, who had the guard pushing through immense pain in the days immediately following the fall, focusing on resistance work such as running in the pool and working with bands.

“He got me right,” Edwards said.

To the point where Edwards said he felt “great” after the game, citing “no limitations.” That’s probably a fib, but the star guard was certainly good enough to make his impact felt in a big way in a big win.

Yet in his post-game, on-court television interview immediatley after the win, Edwards was anything but jubliant.

“I’m disappointed in myself,” the guard said.

Huh?

“I made so many mistakes at the end of the game,” Edwards explained.

Minnesota led by seven with 100 seconds to play. But Julian Champagnie had a pair of second-chance buckets off offensive boards in which he wasn’t boxed out by Edwards.

“I can’t give up two offensive rebounds to Champagnie,” Edwards said. “I may not be as athletic as I usually am, but I’ve got to be able to box out and make those small plays to win the big-time games.”

Then, while inbounding the ball with 33 seconds left and Minnesota up four, Edwards threw a highly-contested pass to Julius Randle that was knocked away and gathered by Dylan Harper, who raced down the floor for a flush to bring the game within two.

Both Edwards and Finch said they should’ve used a timeout in that spot as San Antonio denied the inbounds pass.

“I’m not really that good at taking the ball out of bounds, as I know,” Edwards said. “Seventy-five percent of the game, for me, is my mind. My mind has got to be where it needs to be. And, in the last two minutes of the game, it wasn’t. … I’ll be better.”