Anthony Edwards scores career-high 53, but Wolves still lose big to Pistons

Despite the career day from Edwards, Minnesota was playing from behind all night in Detroit.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards shoots on Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren in the first half at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Jan. 4, 2025. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

After Thursday night's loss to the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards expressed frustration with all the double teams he's faced this season and said he didn't want to just pass the ball. He's still a top-tier scorer.

Edwards certainly backed up that sentiment in his first game since those comments Saturday night, scoring a career-high 53 points, but the rest of the Wolves offense was quiet and they couldn't get needed stops late in a 119-105 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Minnesota lost its third straight contest despite Edwards' career effort.

Edwards was a constant throughout the night — and played 44 minutes — but the Wolves offense would otherwise go dark for extended stretches. To put it in perspective, the Pistons opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run. Minnesota never found its footing offensively in the frame and scored just 15 points. Edwards was responsible for 13 of those points.

Josh Minott, who's recently worked himself into consistent rotation minutes and has been starting second quarters, was out for Saturday's game due to illness. Without Minott, head coach Chris Finch used just the eight-man rotation.

Edwards matched his previous career high of 51 points with a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, his 10th of the night, which matched a record for 3s made by an individual player at Little Caesars Arena. Edwards was 16 for 31 from the field overall, including 10 of 15 from 3-point range, and he also had six rebounds and two assists. But Edwards also had six turnovers.

The Wolves (17-17) rebounded from the lousy offensive showing in the second quarter by exploding for 38 points in the third — Edwards scored 18 in the frame — but they still fell behind by as many as 24 points. That's because they gave up 41 points to the Pistons (17-18) and never found an answer for Cade Cunningham, who often would match a 3-pointer from Edwards with one of his own. Cunningham finished with a team-high 40 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Defensively, Minnesota couldn't stop Cunningham and the team also often lost track of Malik Beasley, a former Wolf who played for the team from 2019-22. Beasley made six 3s and scored 23 points off the bench. Tobias Harris scored 16.

The Pistons outscored the Wolves in the paint, 58-34, and outrebounded Minnesota 47-33.

Julius Randle was the only other Timberwolves player to finish in double figures with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Conley didn't score a point in 21 minutes. Rudy Gobert scored just six points, all coming when the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter. Naz Reid was the third-leading scorer with nine points. Jaden McDaniels scored just eight.

Edwards was stuck on 51 points for a while after drilling the 3 with 9 minutes, 25 seconds left to play in the fourth quarter. He didn't officially get to the career high until making a floater with 22 seconds remaining. That floater made it a milestone game for Edwards, but it had no impact on the final outcome. Edwards may have gotten to his scoring ways with a career day, but the Wolves offense still had the same lapses that's doomed the team too often this season.