Anthony Edwards Calls Out The 29-13 Free Throw Disparity In The Wolves Loss To The Lakers: “We So-Called Fouled Them”

After the disappointing loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime, the Minnesota Timberwolves dropped another game in a row to the Los Angeles Lakers. With no Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert in the starting lineup, it all fell on the shoulders of Anthony Edwards. And while Edwards did the best he could, in the end, even he was at the mercy of the officials and their potentially erroneous calls during the game.

The Los Angeles Lakers took down the Wolves with a 109-120 final score. But what stood out to the Timberwolves All-Star guard was the huge disparity in free-throw awarded to both teams by the end of the contest.

After the matchup, Edwards briefly spoke to the media about the outcome of the game. While it was a tough loss for the team, Ant-Man was seemingly more upset with the Lakers getting more foul calls as opposed to the Timberwolves.

“It’s tough every night when we don’t get to the free throw line as much as the other team…You want to compete and if every time they get the ball, we so-called foul them, and they get to the free throw line. It’s tough. I don’t know how to explain it man.”

 

“It’s tough every night when we don’t get to the free throw line as much as the other team…You want to compete and if every time they get the ball, we so-called foul them, and they get to the free throw line. It’s tough. I don’t know how to explain it man.”

Anthony Edwards on… pic.twitter.com/nN3yKax9Qz

— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) March 11, 2024

The Los Angeles Lakers shot a total of 29 free throws by the end of regulation as opposed to Minnesota only shooting 13. Anthony Davis and LeBron James led the way in that aspect, with Davis alone shooting 13 free throws and Bron shooting 9 shots from the strip.

Anthony Edwards’ statement insinuated that the Lakers might’ve been favored in terms of foul calls. But when you look at the shot chart of both teams for the game, you see that Los Angeles shot 30 shots from the paint while the Timberwolves only shot 15 from the area.

 

Shot charts for the Lakers Wolves game pic.twitter.com/0ZSxOZCidS

— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) March 11, 2024

Based on the level of physicality there is in the paint, players going for more inside shots are bound to get fouled and hence get a few more calls than the opposing teams. However, Edwards was convinced that the Wolves barely fouled the Lakers.

Anthony Edwards’ statement likely throws some shade or indirect accusation toward the officiating of the game, which is not great for him. After all, based on how Rudy Gobert was just fined and suspended for his ‘hand gestures’ toward officials recently, it may not be the best time to announce statements of this nature, especially when the team is looking to hold onto their status as the first seed in the Western Conference.

Anthony Edwards upset over free throw disparity

Anthony Edwards may feel that the Los Angeles Lakers had a distinct advantage in foul calls resulting in free throws but the reality is that LBJ and the rest of the squad just played better as compared to them. The Lakers shot 53% from the field whereas the Wolves only shot 42.3%, as per StatMuse. 

As for shooting from beyond the arc, the Wolves capped off at 34.8% clip for the game. The Lakers, on the other hand, shot an impressive 41.7% as a team as per StatMuse. The Lakers also had a huge advantage in rebounds secured during the game, since the Wolves missed out on their two All-Star bigs during stretches when they would have mattered most.

Coming back to the free-throw disparity, this wasn’t the first time Anthony Edwards raised his voice. A few weeks ago, Edwards had the same issue when the team faced off against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“It’s hard to with the calls that Shai gets. It’s hard to shut them down. You can’t touch him any time of the game. It’s super hard to beat. That team is a good team, especially when they’re getting calls like that.”

Hopefully, Edwards goes on to instill this into his game and make the most of drawing foul calls as many have learned to do after coming into the league.