Jaren Jackson Jr. was getting essentially whatever he wanted heading into halftime. It led Anthony Edwards to beg for the matchup late in the game to try and stop a player that was taking it to the Wolves in every way.
It ended up being successful, to say the least.
“[Ant] took the Jackson matchup and basically shut the water off,” Minnesota Head Coach Chris Finch said afterward.
Jackson’s 19 points at halftime came from an abundance of space on the floor. He had room to operate at the elbows and use his speed to get to the rim, and closeouts were not happening on the part of the Wolves. He found himself getting Gobert in tough spots, and his touch around the rim seemed to be flawless.
Edwards ended up taking much of it away. He played Jackson physically and cut down the amount of space in front of him. It was enough for Finch to mention after the game that Ant is the most physical on-ball defender the Wolves have at their disposal for late-game situations like Wednesday presented; and it helped them on the other end as well.
https://www.canishoopus.com/timberwolves-scores-results/2024/2/28/24086254/wolves-vs-grizzlies-final-score-recap-anthony-edwards-jaren-jackson-jr-naz-reid-jaden-mcdaniels