As with all games, there were many reasons why the Minnesota Timberwolves lost 113-104 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. One of them was a hilarious technical foul on Rudy Gobert.
The fun started with Minnesota leading 97-96 at the end of regulation, when Anthony Edwards missed a jump shot to extend the lead. Gobert was fighting two defenders for a rebound, was fouled after stealing the ball in front of him for an easy dunk, and was ruled to have tried a little too hard.
This was Gobert's sixth foul and he finished the night with seven points and 17 rebounds.
That was a negative for the Timberwolves. As one official discovered to Gobert, something even worse happened soon after. make money sign with hands, which clearly means the referee was bribed. This earned Gobert a technical foul down the stretch, giving the Cavaliers a chance to tie the game immediately.
Darius Garland made the free throw to tie the game. Neither team could score with 28 seconds remaining, forcing overtime, which the Cavaliers won.
Timberwolves assistant Mika Nori, who was filling in as head coach due to Chris Finch's illness, said: Wasn't a fan of the way Gobert's night ended.:
“At the end of the day…we've got to be better. A technical foul with 27 seconds left in the game is honestly unacceptable. Rudy is not that kind of guy, but after this game, we need to be smarter. I have to.” ”
There were many other reasons why the Timberwolves lost. Anthony Edwards followed up his 44-point night with a scoreless fourth quarter and overtime, making 0-of-8 from the field. As a team, Minnesota made 8 of 30 3-pointers, which was impressive as Naz Reid made 7 of 11 from deep. The team only made one other 3-point shot the entire game.
But filming is difficult. No one can antagonize the referee after fouling out.
