By Jon Krawczynski | The Athletic, 2026-05-04 19:44:53
森林狼队安东尼·爱德华兹伤愈复出，出战对阵马刺队的系列赛首战
圣安东尼奥——周一晚，明尼苏达森林狼队球星安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 在对阵圣安东尼奥马刺队的次轮系列赛首战中登场。在首轮对阵丹佛掘金队的第四场比赛中遭遇左膝过度伸展后，他的这次复出速度令人惊叹。
“他热爱打球。伤病发生时，我们算是躲过了一劫，”主教练克里斯·芬奇 (Chris Finch) 在赛前表示，“他表现得很出色，我们的医疗团队在帮助他恢复到目前状态方面也做得不可思议。我们能赢下第一轮系列赛对他来说是巨大的动力。我认为这对他也是一种鼓舞，给了他努力的目标。”
爱德华兹在过去两天里一直在加大训练强度，并努力重返球队。周一早上他参加了球队的投篮训练，在确定可以出战前对膝盖进行了最后的测试。
尽管森林狼队在面对马刺队时被严重看低，但爱德华兹的回归不仅提升了球队击败西部二号种子的机会，更极大地振奋了士气。
“这太棒了，”森林狼队前锋朱利叶斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle) 在投篮训练时说道，“他是世界上最好的球员之一。他在场上的表现、他的个性以及他的领导力对我们球队至关重要。只要他能上场，我们都会感到兴奋。”
森林狼队在次轮赛前一直试图对备战情况保密。通常情况下，他们的首发球员在投篮训练中穿灰色球衣，而替补阵容穿蓝色球衣。然而，当记者周一上午获准进入场馆时，爱德华兹并没有穿球衣，而迈克·康利 (Mike Conley) 穿着首发颜色的球衣。爱德华兹有可能会以替补身份登场，以此来管理他的上场时间。
爱德华兹是在4月25日的第四场比赛中，试图封盖丹佛掘金队卡梅隆·约翰逊 (Cam Johnson) 的投篮时受伤的。他在落地时膝盖扭曲，这让球队内部非常担心他遭遇了毁灭性的伤病。但核磁共振检查显示为膝盖过度伸展和骨挫伤，这已经是该伤病中最理想的情况了。
据联盟消息人士告知《The Athletic》，在受伤后的最初几天，爱德华兹被告知至少需要两周时间才能考虑复出。但爱德华兹并没听进去。他尽可能快地开始康复，在泳池中进行训练以减轻冲击力，咨询专家和球队医疗人员寻求最佳方案，甚至在过去几天使用了高压氧舱——这是他在职业生涯早期一直抗拒尝试的东西。
爱德华兹没有现场观看森林狼队在主场淘汰掘金队的第六场比赛，因为他正忙于膝盖的治疗。到了周末，他开始觉得在圣安东尼奥出战系列赛首战是有可能的。
周日，他的团队在爱德华兹的 YouTube 频道上发布了一段名为《别把我排除在外》(“Don’t Count Me Out”)的视频，详细记录了他的伤病和恢复过程。传达的信息很明确：他不会让伤病阻止他重返今年的季后赛。
爱德华兹的火速复出延续了他以往快速康复的先例。
“我只记得去年年初在这里的时候，他会遭遇严重的摔倒或撞击之类的，”兰德尔说道，“我们可能不得不叫个暂停，你会想，‘该死，他这次可能真的受伤了。’然后他就站了起来。我并不惊讶。他热爱打球，所以他会尽一切努力让自己能够上场。”
康利是众多对爱德华兹坚持重返赛场并不感到意外的队友之一。爱德华兹乐于接受挑战，而很少有比面对文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 和马刺队更大的挑战了。
“无论如何，我预料到他这周某个时候会回来，”康利说，“但在过去的四五天里，我看到他一直在进行康复训练并尝试进场馆训练，我就想，‘伙计，这家伙是真的想打球。’所以我们期待他去竞争。你知道，他热爱竞争，那是他唯一想做的事。所以，当他准备好时，我们很高兴能拥有他。希望他已经准备就绪。”
森林狼队后卫阿约·多孙穆 (Ayo Dosunmu) 已确定缺席第一场比赛。他仍在处理右小腿的问题，这导致他缺席了对阵丹佛的第六场比赛，并且自常规赛末段以来一直困扰着他。多孙穆在周一早上的投篮训练中穿着球服，离开球馆时小腿上绑着冰袋。
爱德华兹在过去的一个月里也一直在应对右膝的炎症。球队希望这段帮助左膝恢复的时间也能让他的右膝处于更好的状态。
如此激进的复出时间表肯定存在风险。当他踏上第一场比赛的赛场时，距离受伤仅过了九天。带着疼痛打球可能会因为身体的补偿机制而导致其他部位受伤，但爱德华兹并不担心。森林狼队的医生和训练师一直在对他进行密切观察，并在周日批准他进行对抗和场上训练。
“考虑到他遭遇的那种伤病，一周后你再看他，他已经在做以前能做的那些动作了，”康利说，“这么快就能恢复到这种程度，确实令人惊叹。我认为这是最关键的一点。”
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards back from injury for Game 1 vs. Spurs
Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards back from injury for Game 1 vs. Spurs
SAN ANTONIO — Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards took the floor in Game 1 of their second-round series against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night, a stunningly quick return to action after he hyperextended his left knee in Game 4 of the team’s first-round matchup with the Denver Nuggets.
“He loves to play the game. We dodged a bullet when it happened,” head coach Chris Finch said before the game. “He’s done an incredible job and our medical staff has done an unbelievable job of getting himself to this point. He was super motivated by the fact we were able ot get that first series. I think that was a little bit of an inspiration for him, too. It gave him something to work towards.”
Edwards has been ramping up his workouts over the past two days and pushing to rejoin the team. He was present at the team’s shootaround Monday morning, giving his knee one final test before it was determined he could play.
The Timberwolves are heavy underdogs against the Spurs, but getting Edwards back will boost the team’s spirits almost as much as its chances to defeat the No. 2 seed in the West.
“It’s great,” Wolves forward Julius Randle said at shootaround. “He’s one of the best players in the world. What he does on the court, his personality, his leadership is big for our team. Whenever we can get him out there, we’re going to be excited about it.”
The Wolves have been trying to keep their preparations close to the vest ahead of the second round. It is common practice for their starters to wear gray jerseys and the second unit to wear blue jerseys during shootaround. However, when reporters were allowed in the arena Monday morning, Edwards was not wearing a jersey and Mike Conley was wearing starters’ colors. It is possible that Edwards could come off the bench as a way of managing his minutes.
Edwards was injured when he tried to block a shot from Denver’s Cam Johnson in Game 4 on April 25. His knee buckled as he landed, causing great concern within the organization that he had suffered a catastrophic injury. But an MRI revealed a hyperextension and a bone bruise, the best-case scenario for the injury.
In the initial days after the injury, Edwards was told it would take a minimum of two weeks before he could think about playing again, league sources told The Athletic. But Edwards wasn’t hearing it. He started rehabbing as quickly as possible, working in a pool to reduce the impact, talking to specialists and team medical personnel about the best courses of action and even using a hyperbaric chamber over the last few days, something he had been reluctant to do earlier in his career.
Edwards did not attend Minnesota’s series-clinching home win over the Nuggets in Game 6 because he was working so hard on the treatments for his knee. By the time the weekend arrived, he was starting to feel as if returning for the series opener in San Antonio could be possible.
On Sunday, his team posted a video to Edwards’ YouTube channel entitled “Don’t Count Me Out” that detailed his injury and recovery. The message was clear: He was not going to let the injury keep him from returning to these playoffs.
Edwards’ rapid return to action follows his history of speedy recoveries.
“I just remember last year, being here at the beginning of the year, and he would take a nasty fall or a hit or whatever,” Randle said. “We might have to call a timeout, and you’re like, ‘Damn, he might be hurt for real.’ Then he just gets up. I’m not surprised. He loves to play the game, so he’s going to do whatever he can to put himself in position to be out here.”
Conley was one of many teammates who were not surprised to see Edwards pushing to get back on the floor. Edwards relishes a challenge, and few are bigger than Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
“I expected him this week, sometime, regardless,” Conley said. “But I’ve seen him over the last four or five days doing rehab and trying to get in the gym, and it was like, ‘Man, this dude, he’s trying to play.’ So we expect him to compete. You know, he loves competing, and that’s all he wants to do. So, we’re happy to have him when he’s ready. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to go.”
Wolves guard Ayo Dosunmu has been ruled out for Game 1. He is still dealing with a right calf issue that kept him out of Game 6 against Denver and has been bothering him since the end of the regular season. Dosunmu was in uniform at shootaround Monday morning and left the arena with an ice bag on his calf.
Edwards has also been dealing with inflammation in his right knee for the last month. There is hope that the time he took off to help his left knee recover will also put his right knee in a better spot.
There are certainly risks involved with such an aggressive timeline. When he took the court in Game 1, it was just nine days since the injury. Playing through pain can lead to other injuries as the body compensates, but Edwards is not concerned. Timberwolves doctors and athletic trainers have been examining him closely, and they cleared him Sunday for contact and on-court work.
“The fact that he had the kind of injury he had, and you look at him a week later and he’s doing things he was doing before,” Conley said. “It was pretty amazing how fast it’s gotten to that point. So I think that’s the biggest thing.”
By Jon Krawczynski, via The Athletic
