Edwards praises McDaniels' dominant performance.
The Minnesota Timberwolves traveled to Portland on Tuesday night needing a bounce-back win after getting blown out by the Philadelphia 76ers two days earlier.
They got it, but they needed every bit of Jaden McDaniels to hold on.
The Wolves edged the Trail Blazers 124-121 at Moda Center, picking up their fourth win in five games and moving to 36-23 on the season.
Portland fell to 27-30 and stayed on the fringes of the Western Conference playoff picture.
After the game, Anthony Edwards made sure everyone knew who deserved the credit.
"This man right here in this game he supposed to have 40 tonight," Edwards said, pointing to McDaniels. "He back home in front of the home crowd. The fam right here. He back at the crib. He went ham man."
Back Home and Going Off
For McDaniels, Tuesday's game was about as close to a home game as it gets. The 25-year-old forward grew up in Federal Way, Washington, roughly three hours north of Portland, and played his lone college season at the University of Washington.
Playing in front of family and friends in the Pacific Northwest brought out something extra.
McDaniels finished with 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting, going 5-of-7 from three and adding six rebounds, five blocks and three steals.
He knocked down three triples in the first quarter alone while swatting four shots in that same stretch to set the tone early.
It was his second 29-point game in February and the kind of all-around performance that is becoming his calling card in his sixth NBA season, where he's averaging a career-best 14.9 points per game while shooting 44 percent from three.
Edwards Carries His Weight Too
It would have been easy for this to be all about McDaniels, and honestly, it almost was.
But Edwards did what he always does, finishing with 34 points on five made threes while delivering when it mattered most.
With Portland cutting the lead to four with under two minutes left, Edwards knocked down a 25-foot three to push the margin to nine and McDaniels followed with an emphatic dunk to seal it.
Edwards is having a career year, averaging 29.5 points per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.
The All-Star Game MVP has hit 30 or more six times in February alone, and his ability to close games has been one of Minnesota's most reliable traits all season.
A Duo That Keeps Delivering
What makes Minnesota dangerous is how well these two play off each other.
Edwards creates chaos and draws attention, and McDaniels punishes teams on both ends for not respecting him.
That dynamic helped flip the script against the Celtics back in November, and it showed up again Tuesday in Portland.
The Timberwolves are one of the deepest teams in the West, but when Edwards and McDaniels are both locked in, they are as tough to beat as any duo in the league.
The two combined for 63 of Minnesota's 124 points, each knocking down five threes.
The Wolves now head to Los Angeles for a back-to-back against the Clippers on Thursday before a critical matchup with Denver on March 1 that could shake up the Western Conference seeding.