It was a spectacular performance, turned into a blowout by Anthony Edwards' dominant third quarter.

Then came Tuesday. This was going to be game still undecided with two minutes left, that was my firm belief.

Who could have guessed what the home team had to unveil to turn into a 105-93 victory?

It wasn't that Edwards was going to take over the game as on Saturday. On Tuesday, he was 3 for 12 from the field, 7 for 8 on free throws, and totaled a subpar 15 points. It was not dismantling the Suns on the boards, as they did by 52-28 in Game 1. This time, the Suns' Jusuf Nurkic would lead all players with 14 rebounds, and Phoenix would finish with a 41-39 edge.

It was this:

That Jaden McDaniels, 23 and only 10 months older than Edwards, listed at 6-foot-9 but said to be 6-10, the kid who punched the wall behind the tarp and missed the five-game playoff series with Denver last April, would be the best player on the court for nearly the entire night.

With salary cap Hades approaching, the Wolves last October gave McDaniels a five-year, $136 million contract extension that will kick in starting next season.

And they still are said to have turned down overtures to include him in trades, even as those nights of eight or 10 points and three or four rebounds appeared on his resume during the season.

Because Finch, and President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly, and anyone else involved in personnel expected this:

The talent they witnessed in all those hours of practices and scrimmages across the street, the talent far beyond always being a great defender, would be shown to the rest of the basketball world eventually.

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