The Minnesota Timberwolves couldn’t defeat the OKC Thunder in regulation time last night. Chris Finch’s side required one overtime period and a clutch block from Anthony Edwards to complete their 25-point comeback on the road.
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On the second night of back-to-back matchups against Oklahoma City, Minnesota saw Jaden McDaniels step up as the team’s leading scorer. Along with 27 points, the wing also grabbed 10 rebounds to make up for the absence of Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle.
However, even after securing the 131-128 win in overtime, the Wolves head coach had some choice words about the Thunder’s style of play.
“It’s so frustrating to play this team because they foul a ton. They really do. They foul, they foul all the time. And then you can’t really touch Shai. It’s a very frustrating thing, and it takes a lot of mental toughness to play through it,” Finch remarked.
Chris Finch after the win postgame in OKC:
"It's so frustrating to play this team because they foul a ton. They really do. They foul, they foul all the time. And then you can't really touch Shai. It's a very frustrating thing, and it takes a lot of mental toughness to play…
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) February 25, 2025
The head coach sounds like he’s alluding to a double standard. According to him, OKC gets away with a lot more contact than other teams. And at the same time, he finds it impossible to match their physicality due to the foul-drawing capabilities of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The first half of his statement partially holds true as the Thunder tally 20.6 personal fouls per game — the third-highest mark in the league this season. However, this doesn’t prove that they are getting away with contact. On the contrary, it suggests that OKC is simply more willing to play through foul trouble.
Where a team like the Wolves would suffer, the Thunder are able to remain aggressive even when their stars are on the verge of fouling out. This is another example of Mark Daigneault taking advantage of his deep roster by allowing his players a longer leash on defense.
Similarly, the statistics don’t support the claim that Gilgeous-Alexander is a free-throw merchant. Last night, SGA was especially difficult to contain as he drew 17 shots at the charity stripe, knocking down 14 of them. But while he is leading the league in made free-throws this season, SGA also leads the league in drives per game.
His 20.8 drives per game generate 3.9 free-throw attempts on average, which means he’s getting to the line on 18.75% of his attacks. Conversely, Anthony Edwards earns 3.3 free-throw attempts per game on his 14.5 drives to the rim; getting to the line 22.75% of the time.
Of course, that fact hasn’t stopped Finch or Ant-Man himself from criticizing the whistles Gilgeous-Alexander receives.
“It’s hard to with the calls that Shai gets. It’s hard to shut him down. You can’t touch him at any time of the game, so it’s super hard to beat,” Edwards said after a 97-102 loss against OKC last year. “That team is a good team, especially when they get calls like that.”
Last night, Minnesota shot 34-of-39 from the stripe while Oklahoma City shot 23-of-29. In fact, OKC averages the second-most drives per game amongst all teams while attempting the second-fewest free-throws per game this season. Their 19.8 attempts are eclipsed by the Wolves, who are in the middle of the pack with 21.8 FTA per game.
