Anthony Edwards dropped 47 on Cleveland, the most he's ever hung on them, and Minnesota still walked out of Rocket Arena with a 127-125 overtime loss. Spend the rest of the week screaming at Bill Kennedy's crew if you want. It won't change the box score. The three men in stripes didn't miss the free throws that lost this game.
The officiating complaint is real, so deal with it first. There was a drive late in regulation that looked like it earned a trip to the line and didn't get one. There was a non-call on another drive in overtime, and a foul whistled against Minnesota in the final seconds that a lot of people are going to call phantom. That's a legitimate beef. It's also the normal texture of any close NBA game, and no amount of it adds up to the deficit Minnesota dug and then re-dug for themselves.
Down the stretch, this is what happened. Jonathan Kuminga missed a free throw in regulation that would have pushed Minnesota up three. He missed another key one in overtime. Sam Merrill fouled LaMelo Ball with 9.2 seconds left, Ball stepped to the line with a chance to tie or win it, and he bricked both. Edwards chased down the rebound and got a wide-open three from the top of the key, exactly the look you'd draw up, and it rimmed out. That's your last gasp: a free-throw miss, then an open shot from a guy who's scored 47 and change in a game seven times in his career. Both empty.
Rating
RatingNow add the turnovers. Minnesota coughed it up 18 times, and Cleveland turned those into 19 points. The Wolves managed just 11 points off Cleveland's giveaways. That's an eight-point swing handed over for free, and no referee forced a single one of those passes into traffic.
Then there's Jaden McDaniels, who fouled out and, on his way to doing it, picked up a technical for arguing with an official instead of getting back on defense. A grown professional gave away a point because he'd rather plead his case than do his job. Cleveland was already erasing a 15-point hole, and the last thing a team blowing a lead that size needs is to gift-wrap points on technicals.
RTGEdwards is the only Timberwolf who comes out of this clean. He carried the offense and played through a knee that had him listed as questionable right up until tip, on the second night of a road back-to-back. He did everything a franchise player is supposed to do. This went down as a loss because Kuminga, Ball, and McDaniels combined to give away point after point at the exact moments the game was there to be taken.
Blame the whistle if it helps the loss go down easier. The guys who actually cost Minnesota this one were wearing Minnesota jerseys.
