LOS ANGELES — At halftime of the Timberwolves’ 117-95 victory over the Lakers on Saturday, Anthony Edwards was a vocal presence in the Wolves’ locker room.

To hear coach Chris Finch tell it, Edwards had spent the first half dissecting how the Lakers were going to defend him (he had eight points and three assists), and at the intermission he had some things figured out.

“He knew what was going on by that time. I think he had gotten comfortable with it,” Finch said. “I think some of the stuff that we saw early, we weren’t quite expecting some of it with him.”

So Edwards was telling his teammates where he wanted them to be as the Lakers tried to “tilt the floor” against him, or send multiple to him or in the gaps whenever he had the ball. Part of Edwards’ halftime message was to speak to his teammates about how best they could capitalize off the attention he was drawing. It worked to perfection, as he nearly finished with a triple-double of 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

But that moment in the locker room is also a snapshot of how the 23-year-old is growing more into his voice as a leader. Edwards has been reluctant to use his voice early in his career, but last season and into this one, that voice became louder, to the point it feels natural for him to be a more vocal leader with the Wolves, even if there are plenty of players older than he is.

“How he’s been leading, as young as he is, it’s kind of crazy to me,” Naz Reid said. “You would think he’s 30. Like, seriously. Just how vocal he is, he wants to win. You can tell. He’s desperate, and he wants his teammates to do well as well. Him being the leader that he is, it just falls down the line. It falls into my hands with the younger guys as well, and so forth and so on. Inspiring each other day by day — moments like today is huge.”

From a young age, Edwards has always been able to read a room. Those who know him best say his emotional intelligence in dealing with others is advanced beyond his years. The term “old soul” often comes up in conversations about Edwards, and this is one way that manifests. To know how to motivate, how to deal with them and to know that his positive nature can have a ripple effect across the team. So when Edwards talks to his individual teammates at halftime of a game, he knows how to talk to each of them. He broke down how he approaches that in his postgame remarks.

“It’s 15 grown men in the locker room and everybody got emotions, knowing how to talk to everybody,” Edwards said. “You can’t deliver a message the same way to 1 through 15. Some guys I got to talk to, pull them to the side. Some guys I can cuss at them. Some guys — just different ways, man. Not being afraid of doing that, I think that’s the main thing. I step into that role, and my teammates trust me and they listen. So it’s a privilege to have guys like that.”

The Wolves are in a different place than they were earlier in the season, when Edwards lamented after a loss to the Kings on Nov. 27 that he and his teammates couldn’t talk candidly to each other. The Wolves ironed out those issues in the weeks after that and got back to the culture of harsh truths that has been a hallmark of the Finch and Edwards era.

“Ant’s energy is contagious,” Julius Randle said.

The Wolves followed Edwards’ lead in Game 1. That’s more than just a figure of speech at this point in his career.

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