Charles Barkley hits Anthony Edwards with harsh take after Timberwolves’ Game 1 loss

Anthony Edwards seemingly had the world at the palm of his hands after he led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a five-game series victory over LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. He even earned the moniker “Legend Killer” from the man himself, Randy Orton. But Edwards and the Timberwolves were promptly humbled in Game 1 of their second-round matchup against the Golden State Warriors — with Edwards suffering a nightmare shooting game en route to a 99-88 defeat.

Edwards did not look right at all, especially when he launched a shot from beyond 15-feet. He may have ended the game with 23 points and 14 rebounds, but all night long, shooting the ball looked like a chore, as he was well on his way to building a house with the bricks he was throwing up before he decided to make a more concerted effort to attack the basket.

Simply put, Edwards will have to play better for the Timberwolves to take control of the series against a Warriors team that was without Stephen Curry in Game 1 due to a hamstring injury. And Charles Barkley, who picked the Timberwolves to win the series, hit Edwards with a brutal realization after his terrible first-half performance on Tuesday night.

“You said you wanted the smoke. ‘I want the Warriors.’ And you got them. You had 1 point at halftime. And his energy level was down. When you’re the man, you get all the credit, but you get all the blame. That’s the way it works. Ant has got to play better. You can’t come out and talk all that noise and have one point [in the first half], plain and simple,” Barkley said on TNT’s Inside the NBA.