Anthony Edwards slammed for poor Game 4 showing: 'That's not acceptable'

"I was way more disappointed in Ant last night in the second half. Dijected at times, disinterested at times, and as much as I love him, that's not something I expect," The Ringer's Ryen Russillo said on his podcast Tuesday. "You want to have a bad shooting night? Fine. But, he just wasn't aggressive enough, because I think he was so frustrated with what was happening."

Oklahoma City is a historically great defensive team, and it's obvious that a combination of Luguentz Dort and Jalen Williams has seriously frustrated Edwards throughout the entire series. In four games, he's averaging 24.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game on 49.3% shooting from the field, but it's been clear that there's one more step he needs to take to be at an MVP level like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Much of the criticism about Edwards' performance in Game 4 revolves around the fact that he had only one shot in the first quarter and only one more in the second quarter before 11 shots in the second half.

"Jaden McDaniels of the T-Wolves had more shots than Ant. That can't happen," Colin Cowherd said on Tuesday. "You can't be the face of the league and get one shot in the first quarter of the biggest game of the playoffs. Can't do it. Not interested in excuses."

McDaniels finished Game 4 with 15 shot attempts compared to Edwards, who had only 13, which tied for his fewest this postseason. Edwards is only 23 years old and this year is his second trip to the Western Conference Finals, but Monday's performance left people wanting more from one of the brightest stars in the league.