Watch: Kyrie Irving ruins Anthony Edwards' 'fun' with 24 first-half points

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts in the first quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves during Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Target Center.

Anthony Edwards said he wanted to guard Kyrie Irving. It turned out that no one on the Timberwolves could stop Irving in the first half.

Irving finished a tough and-one to complete a personal 5-0 run and bring the Dallas Mavericks to within three points at halftime. Minnesota led 62-59 at the half, with Irving shooting 11-of-14 from the field.

After Minnesota won Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets, Edwards declared that his matchup with Irving was "gonna be fun."

It wasn't all that fun for the Timberwolves, as Irving came out looking for his own shot. At the half, TNT's Charles Barkley accused Edwards of "poking the bear," implying that Irving felt challenged or disrespected by Edwards' quote. Regardless of why, Irving put on an exhibition in the first half of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

While Irving has often taken a distributor role alongside Luka Doncic in these playoffs, it was nearly all buckets in Game 1. He took 14 shots and delivered just one assist. But with the way he was getting to the hoop on Minnesota's top-ranked defense, why would he give the ball to anyone else?

Edwards may have poked the bear, but no one else on the Timberwolves has been able to contain the bear any better than he has. Irving was an equal-opportunity scorer in the first half, scoring on whichever Timberwolf was in his way.

Edwards was no slouch himself with 13 first-half points, but that was no match for a red-hot Uncle Drew.

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