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Following the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 107-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 29, guard Anthony Edwards voiced his displeasure with the officiating in an on-court postgame interview.
Speaking to Lea B. Olsen of Bally Sports North, Edwards said he would “take the fine because the refs did not give us no calls tonight. We had to play through every bump, every grab. I don’t know how we won tonight.”
ESPN’s Tim McMahon reported that Edwards then told ESPN: “The refs was bad tonight. Yeah, they was terrible, we was playing 8-on-5.” He added: “The cat got their tongue tonight, so it’s all good. It’s not fair, but it’s all good.”
Edwards finished the game with 27 points in 40 minutes to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Minnesota Timberwolves Retake the No. 1 Seed
Heading into the game, center Naz Reid told Timberwolves radio play-by-play announcer Alan Horton, “I think it’s a must-win for us. I think we gotta have it.” The Timberwolves had dropped three of their previous five games, including losses to the 10-37 San Antonio Spurs and the 10-35 Charlotte Hornets.
A strong fourth quarter, in which the Timberwolves outscored the Thunder 34-24, propelled them to victory.
Jon Krawczynski of the Athletic credited a large part of the win to coach Chris Finch’s adjustments to the rotation, writing, “It was Finch and the coaching staff that may have had the best night. After his rotations at the start of the second and fourth quarters in San Antonio contributed to blown leads, Finch changed things up in Oklahoma City.”
The rotation changes that Krawczynski referred to included benching the struggling Shake Milton, who is averaging 4.8 points per game (4.0 points below his career average) while shooting 40% from the field and a career-low 26% from three.
The victory puts the Timberwolves back atop the Western Conference, up a half-game over the Denver Nuggets and a full game ahead of the Thunder.
Minnesota Timberwolves Looking to Upgrade Bench
With the February 8 trade deadline looming, the Wolves are looking to upgrade their bench scoring, according to Krawczynski in a separate January 30 story. Krawczynski wrote that the Wolves’ dream would be to land a “wing with size who can shoot the 3 at high volume and get buckets.”
Krawczynski did not speculate about whom the Wolves might target, they have several players on expiring contracts they could use to bolster the rotation. Melton’s $5 million contract expires this summer, as do Kyle Anderson’s $9 million deal, Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s $4.7 million deal and Troy Brown Jr.’s $4 million deal.
Tim Garrison of SBNation reported that the Wolves had expressed interest in Royce O’Neale of the Brooklyn Nets. He is currently shooting 36% from 3 on a little over five attempts per night.
Other options may include two veterans on the struggling Detroit Pistons — Bojan Bogdanović and Alec Burks, who have been in trade rumors for much of the year. Bogdanović is currently averaging 20.6 points per game and shooting 46.9% from the field and 41% from three, while Burks is scoring 12.5 points a night on 39% from the floor but 40% from three.
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