On Monday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves clashed in a battle for the Western Conference's number one seed. It was a tight contest, that featured stout defense, six lead changes, and the largest lead was only 10 points, held by the Wolves.
The game was up for grabs heading into the fourth, unfortunately, the Thunder playing five games in seven days caught up with them, as they simply looked gassed in the game's final frame. Minnesota outscored the Thunder 34-24, they did it as a collective unit, as eight out of seven Wolves scored in the fourth.
Whereas, for Mark Daigneault and the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 of his 37 points, and eight other players combined to score 12 points. This result was undoubtedly a combination of tired legs and the Wolve's elite defense. This was SGA's seventh consecutive 30-point outings, but Minnesota left Paycom Center with the 107-101 victory
Things are getting spicy
During his postgame interview on their broadcast, Wolves star Anthony Edwards criticized the officiating. And, he did so again when he met with the media afterwards telling ESPN's Tim Macmahon: " The Refs was bad tonight. Yeah, they was terrible. We were playing 8-on-5." These comments will likely result in a hefty fine for Edwards.
The officiating was strange, as the Wolves were whistled for 19 fouls which translated to 22 OKC free throws. On the other side, the Thunder were assessed 17 fouls, leading to 15 Minnesota foul shots. However, four of the Timberwolves' free throws occurred in the game's final minute due to intentional fouls.