NBA Notes: Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards, Mavericks, Cooper Flagg, Heat

Timberwolves

The Timberwolves will be without their star guard Tuesday.

Anthony Edwards has been ruled out against the Suns due to right knee soreness, the team announced. The matchup carries real weight, too. Minnesota currently holds a two-game lead over Phoenix for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference — the final guaranteed playoff spot.

According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Edwards was “clearly laboring” during Sunday’s road loss to the Thunder.

It will mark the 11th game Edwards has missed this season. Sixth Man of the Year contender Naz Reid is also dealing with an injury and is listed as questionable with a right shoulder contusion.

Mavericks

Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg says injured star Kyrie Irving has been a major help behind the scenes.

Irving is out for the season while recovering from a torn ACL, but the veteran guard has remained around the team and taken on a mentoring role.

“[Irving] was that top pick and was kind of thrown into the fire,” Flagg told Malika Andrews of ESPN. “He stepped in as a great vet for me and was there giving me guidance.”

Flagg admitted there were moments early in the season where the losses piled up.

“There were definitely times where I was shaken up,” he said. “Just hearing him say I’m doing everything I need to be doing and to stay positive definitely helped.”

Heat

The Heat got Norman Powell back, but not in the way he’s used to.

Powell returned after missing seven games with a right groin strain and finished with 21 points in a loss to the Magic. But he came off the bench for the first time in nearly two years.

Why the change? Miami had won all seven games Powell missed.

Coaches didn’t want to disrupt that rhythm.

“Look, these are not easy decisions right now,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, via Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “He’s going to play a lot of minutes. Tyler (Herro) is going to play a lot of minutes. Right now we just need to focus on winning games.”

Herro returned from a brief absence of his own and started alongside Davion Mitchell, Pelle Larsson, Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware.

With both Powell and Herro active, guard Dru Smith received a DNP-CD.