Jan. 30 (UPI) — Anthony Edwards aimed criticism at referees, and said he’d welcome a fine from the NBA, telling a TV reporter that he didn’t know how the Minnesota Timberwolves overcame calls to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Edwards made the comments Monday night during an on-court interview with Bally Sports North. The Timberwolves beat the Thunder 107-101 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The All-Star guard totaled 27 points, four assists and four rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
“I don’t know,” Edwards said, when asked about how the Timberwolves won. “I’m going to take the fine. The refs did not give us no calls.
“We had to play through every bump and every grab. I don’t know how we won tonight. Big shout out to my team. Big shout out to my coaches.”
The Timberwolves outscored the Thunder 46-34 in the paint and led by as many as 10 points. They shot 48.2% from the floor, compared to the Thunder’s 44.3% clip. They also outshot the Thunder 48.3% to 40% from 3-point range.
The Timberwolves shot 15 free throws, while the Thunder attempted 22 free throws. The Timberwolves were called for 19 personal fouls, compared to the Thunder’s 17. The game featured 24 lead changes.
“The refs were bad [Monday],” Edwards told ESPN. “Yeah, they were terrible. We were playing 8-on-5.”
Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 37 points, with seven rebounds and eight assists. Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the victory. Center Rudy Gobert chipped in 12 points and 18 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves outscored the Thunder 29-28 in the first quarter and 20-19 in the second. The Thunder rallied to outscore their foes 30-24 in the third to carry a 77-73 lead into the fourth.
The Thunder started the final quarter on an 11-2 run to take an 84-79 lead with 10 minutes remaining. The lead changed hands seven more times before forward Jaden McDaniels hit a 3-pointer with 2:32 remaining to give the Timberwolves a 99-97 edge. They never trailed again.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points in the second half of the loss. He extended his streak of games with at least 30 points to seven. He made 15 of 16 free throw attempts. No other player attempted more than eight free throws in the game.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch did not specifically call out officials, but referenced foul calls on awarded to Gilgeous-Alexander at his postgame news conference.
“We had a lot of guys we had to throw at Shai,” Finch said. “It was a tough cover. Every night, you look and he goes to the line 15 or 16 times. It’s kinda tough to guard him if that’s the case.”
The Timberwolves (33-14) will host the Dallas Mavericks (26-21) at 8 p.m. EST Wednesday in Minneapolis. The Thunder (32-15) will host the Denver Nuggets (33-15) at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
