Chris Finch calls out Anthony Edwards after dreadful Game 1 performance

Anthony Edwards spoke his opportunity in the playoffs against the Warriors into existence and he no-showed for the first half and the result was a disheartening Game 1 loss on a night that Steph Curry played only 13 minutes after suffering a hamstring strain.

Edwards was scoreless until hitting a free throw with 1:04 left in the first half. Although his final stats look reasonable — 23 points and 14 rebounds — it was a lackluster approach that got him called out by head coach Chris Finch during the postgame media availability.

“It starts with Ant,” Finch said. “I thought he struggled, and then you could just kind of see the light go out a little bit for a while. Then, obviously, we had to try to get him going in the second half. I think it was one of those games where he kind of came out with a predetermined mindset of what he was trying to do rather than just play the game that was in front of him.”

Message received? Finch thinks so.

“What is there to talk about? You’re the leader of the team. You’ve got to come out and set the tone,” Finch said. “If your shot is not going, you still have to carry the energy. If I’ve got to talk to guys about having the right energy coming into an opening second-round game, then we’re not on the same page.”