What the Magic Must do to Stop Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves

Following a 132-125 Opening Night loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, the Orlando Magic are gearing up to host the Minnesota Timberwolves, and nothing about this matchup will be easy. 

Minnesota opened its season against the Miami Heat and spoiled Giannis Antetokounmpo's debut with his new team by defeating the Heat 131-106 on Wednesday, and Anthony Edwards began his season in emphatic fashion with a 45-point performance. 

Now, he will be looking to cause problems for Orlando's defense. 

Even in the loss to Atlanta, the Magic still got key offensive performances, and none were better than Paolo Banchero's. Banchero scored 35 points while shooting 10-for-12 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range, and he became the first player in NBA history to have 35-plus points and 10-plus assists while shooting 80-plus percent from the floor in a season opener. 

In the latest episode of the Full Court Magic podcast, I detailed the challenges the Timberwolves will pose for the Magic and what they must do to succeed. Below is what I had to say:

"Now let's look ahead to Friday. On Friday, the Magic host a tougher opponent in the Minnesota Timberwolves, who just went down to Miami and wiped the floor with the Heat. Giannis Antetokounmpo's debut in a Heat jersey was spoiled, and it was no fault of Giannis—he had 35 points. But Anthony Edwards was better. He was much better.

And so now the Magic have to be prepared for what the Timberwolves are going to bring. I mean, this is a team that has a championship-caliber roster if they mesh well and stay healthy, and they had a heck of a first start on Wednesday against the Heat. There's a lot of guys to guard on this team, right? You got McDaniels, you've got Ant Edwards, you've got LaMelo Ball, and if all of them are generating quality looks for one another and getting up the right type of shots, it's going to spread this Magic defense out, and they're going to have to be a lot better than what they were against the Hawks on Wednesday.

You also have to deal with the big man, Rudy Gobert, down low. That's going to be quite a challenge for Wendell Carter Jr., Nic Vucevic, anyone who steps into that five slot and is playing that center position. It's going to be tough against Rudy. This is a very deep, well-coached Minnesota team, and Chris Finch had these guys ready to go the other night, and now it's up to Sean Sweeney to have the Magic ready to go, have to see fewer turnovers, and have to see them generate more turnovers. 

They did a good job generating turnovers on Wednesday against the Hawks, but again, if your ball security is worse, that's going to cause a problem for you. So they are going to have to be more cognizant of that ratio, and they have to hit their free throws. You have to take advantage of those opportunities, especially against a team like Minnesota.

So you know, even if the Magic lose, would it suck to be 0-2 in your first two home games? Sure. But again, context is important, right? This is an 82-game season, and it would be better for the Magic to get off to a little bit of a slow start and finish strong than the other way around.