Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards expressed his dissatisfaction with the officiating following their 107-101 road victory over the second-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
In a postgame interview with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Edwards didn’t hold back, stating, “The refs were bad tonight. Yeah, they were terrible. We were playing eight-on-five.”
Immediately after the game, he referred to the officiating crew as “cheating ass refs” and continued to voice his frustrations during an on-court interview.
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While the referees awarded Edwards four free throws throughout the game, the Timberwolves collectively attempted only 15 shots from the charity stripe. In contrast, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 16 attempts, the Thunder took 22 free throws.
Edwards acknowledged, “I haven’t earned [referees’ respect] yet, so it’s OK. But I think tonight was bad from the refs. It was terrible. We didn’t get any calls as a team. I got fouled multiple times, and I’m walking up to the ref telling him, ‘Hey, can you watch this?’ They just shake their heads. Yeah. And then soon somebody comes down from their team and gets bumped, it’s a foul.”
Despite his grievances, Edwards made it clear that his frustration with the referees was separate from the foul calls received by Gilgeous-Alexander, acknowledging the Thunder player’s exceptional ability to draw fouls.
“Him getting to the line, he does that in his sleep. Yeah, he’s unstoppable. Nobody can guard him. He’s good. He’s super good. But yeah, the refs were bad tonight.”
One particular play that seemed to irk Edwards occurred with 1:57 left in the game when he grabbed his wrist after a powerful slam dunk, signaling to the referees that he was fouled.
“I just feel like it wasn’t a fair game tonight from the jump,” Edwards commented. “And so that’s why I’m super happy we won the game.”
Despite the contentious officiating, Edwards had an impressive performance, finishing the game with 27 points and a 10-of-20 shooting record. The win propelled the Timberwolves to a 33-14 record on the season, securing the top spot in the Western Conference.
