At a Tuesday night game in Minnesota (ET), Anthony Edwards set the tone in a Timberwolves win over the Memphis Grizzlies, while Memphis did something it has been practicing with unusual discipline: it hung tough, avoided embarrassment, and still did not win.
What happened in the Grizzlies’ loss as Anthony Edwards took over?
The Grizzlies lost in Minnesota to the Timberwolves, and the night’s center of gravity was Anthony Edwards’ big performance. Memphis stayed competitive—“hung tough” is how the night was framed—yet the outcome still aligned with a clear tanking direction: no runaway defeat, but also no victory.
That tension—compete hard, but accept the loss—formed the game’s emotional core. It was not presented as quitting; it was presented as a kind of controlled discomfort, a team trying to walk the narrow line between effort and draft positioning.
How does a tanking season create room for new playmaking and growth?
Inside the loss, Memphis had signs of progress that did not depend on the final score. One developing thread was playmaking from the 2025 first-round pick of the Utah Jazz now in Memphis. The shot still “isn’t falling yet, ” but the more meaningful marker was creation for teammates: eight assists to two turnovers against Minnesota.
Over his last three games including this one, he averaged nine assists per game. That stretch included a record-setting 14-assist game this past weekend against the Pacers. In a season framed around losing for long-term gain, those numbers are treated as proof of “finding his footing” rather than a footnote.
The same idea—use the space of a tank to discover who can carry real NBA minutes—showed up in the discussion of what came back from the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade with the Jazz. Draft picks were viewed as the biggest haul, and the long-term view may still hold. But Clayton Jr. and Taylor Hendricks were singled out as players showing they are “no slouches, ” with opportunity shining through “best in the midst of a tank. ”
Why did Anthony Edwards feel like a reminder of what Memphis is chasing?
If the losses are getting harder to justify emotionally, the night offered a blunt reminder of the theory behind them: star power of the kind Anthony Edwards displayed is often found at the very top of the NBA Draft.
In the same contest Memphis tried to keep close, Anthony Edwards was described as dominant on both ends of the floor. The detail set was specific: five “stocks” (steals and blocks) and more than 30 points. The story also tied his profile to draft pedigree, noting he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
For Memphis, that becomes a kind of lesson delivered in real time. The path to landing a similar level of prospect is not comfortable, and it does not always look like progress on the scoreboard. But it can look like playmaking growth, efficient contributions in limited minutes, and young players learning rhythm—pieces that matter when a team is trying to lose without losing itself.
Memphis was set to return to action Wednesday night (ET), at home against the Portland Trail Blazers, continuing a stretch where the grind is less about a single night’s result and more about what each loss reveals.
