Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards initially left fans in a state of worry during the recent Game 2 Conference Finals clash against the Dallas Mavericks. With just 7:53 minutes remaining in the game, the player unexpectedly walked out of the court and didn’t return until a minute later. Soon, it was reported by ESPN journalist Dave McMenamin that ‘Ant-Man’ had been receiving supplementary oxygen through a face mask during the timeout period. This update caused many people from the NBA fraternity to react, with former Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal and his fellow co-host having contrasting opinions.

Just as the Timberwolves-Mavericks matchup came to a close, the esteemed crew over at TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ devoted a segment to discuss the highlights. When broaching Anthony Edwards’ ‘Oxygen Mask Incident’, former Philadelphia 76ers star Charles Barkley attempted to defend the player by stating that he was just suffering from “fatigue”. Shaq, however, did not agree with this remark as he stated that both of them, along with fellow co-hosts Kenny Smith and Draymond Green, did not use fatigue as an excuse to underperform during their matchups. For Smith, his experience tells him another lesson.

“Fatigue makes cowards of us all” said Smith.

Anthony Edwards’ fatigue has been a topic of conversation since the beginning of the Conference Finals. After all, the Timberwolves had concluded a seven-game series against the defending champions, Denver Nuggets, barely a few days ago. When the team lost Game 1 against the Dallas Mavericks, Edwards stated in the post-game presser that “Everything was on us today. I didn’t get down here as much. Just stuff like that. We were just a little tired, probably”. The same statement was later echoed by Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch. He admired Edwards for being honest with his shortcomings and stated that “He’s (Edwards) entitled to have a game like that once in a while.”

Anthony Edwards is struggling to compete against the Dallas Mavericks

Prior to the Western Conference Finals, Anthony Edwards was being regarded as one of the most dominating players amongst those who still haven’t been eliminated. He had helped the Minnesota Timberwolves established a 4-0 record against the Suns during the first round of the playoffs, and secured an average score of 27.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists over the course of seven games against the Denver Nuggets. However, as soon as the franchise went up against the Dallas Mavericks, things changed.

During the first matchup, the 2x NBA All-Star could only put up a score of 19 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. There was a certain lapse in his shooting ability, as he went 6-16 with his field goals, 5-12 with his three pointers, and 2-2 with his free throws. The situation worsened during the recently concluded Game 2. While ‘Ant-Man’ had ended the game by putting up 21 points, he had only made 5-17 field goals, 2-7 three pointers and 9-10 free throws. Given that the Mavericks won by just 109-108, the win could have been easily secured by just a bit more effort.

Anthony Edwards stated in the aftermath of the game that he “felt great tonight”. When asked if he had taken any oxygen, the player reportedly laughed and replied “Nah nah. I was good today.”

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