Anthony Edwards Out At Least 1-2 Weeks With Knee Inflammation; Wolves Star's Awards Eligibility In Question

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards will miss at least one-to-two weeks with knee inflammation, the team announced Tuesday. 

Edwards was listed as "questionable" in each of Minnesota's past two games but played through his right knee issue, scoring 42 points in a road win over the Golden State Warriors and then 19 in a road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He received an MRI, which revealed the inflammation he's dealing with, and now the four-time All-Star guard will be re-evaluated later this month, according to the Timberwolves.

Edwards' injury isn't expected to affect his status for the postseason, per The Athletic. 

Minnesota will miss Edwards' presence on the court Tuesday night against Phoenix in a pivotal Western Conference matchup that pits the sixth-place Timberwolves (41-27) versus the seventh-place Suns (39-29).

His absence against Phoenix will mark his 11th missed game of the season. He was also sidelined with hamstring and toe injuries earlier this season. While there are some exceptions, a player generally must play a minimum of 65 regular-season games to be considered for the NBA's end-of-season awards, per a league rule that was instituted ahead of the 2023-24 season in an attempt to combat load management. In other words, a player typically can't miss more than 17 games and be awards-eligible.

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The Timberwolves play seven games over the next two weeks, including Tuesday's showdown versus the Suns, meaning if Edwards is out a full two weeks, he'd be at 17 missed games for the season.

It's important to note, however, that, since Edwards left an Oct. 26 game against the Indiana Pacers just three minutes in, he's played in 57, not 58, games that qualify for awards eligibility. So he needs to make eight more qualifying appearances to be up for a third All-NBA honor and other postseason accolades, and after that two-week recovery mark, the Wolves will have only seven games remaining.

Edwards had never missed more than 10 games in his career before this season, his sixth go-round in the league after he was drafted No. 1 overall out of Georgia in 2020.

He's currently averaging a career-high 29.5 points per game, the third most in the league, behind only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31.6) of the Thunder and Luka Dončić (32.9) of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Minnesota is back home after going just 1-3 on a four-game road trip last week. The Timberwolves are two games up on the Suns heading into Tuesday's game. Phoenix owns the tiebreaker over the Wolves, though.

Dropping to seventh in the West would put Minnesota on track for the play-in tournament.