Timberwolves fans weren’t alone in their spiral of confusion over Anthony Edwards’ technical foul on Saturday night.
Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller were right there along with them.
The two TNT broadcasters both went on a tangent, ripping the official for the call during Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series between Minnesota and the defending champions in Denver.
With less than two minutes to go in the third quarter and the Timberwolves leading 71-68, Edwards was backing in towards the basket against Reggie Jackson and eventually spun around him for a layup on the baseline.
After the basket, Edwards walks backward toward the opposite end of the court while staring Jackson down.
The look alone was enough for an official to charge a technical foul.
“Oh come on man. No way. No way,” Miller said as the whistle blew and the shock appeared on Edwards’ face.
“Man, we’re in the second round of the playoffs, emotions are always going to be high. Here’s the move by Anthony Edwards,” he said as the TNT broadcast showed a replay of the moment in question. “That’s just a look! Come on.
“That’s a bad technical. Come on man. What has this game come to? Didn’t say a word,” he concluded.
Barkley agreed it was too big a punishment for a small act and suggested the referee give a warning instead.
“Hey, Mr. Official. Nobody came to see your ass play,” he said. “Stop giving taunting technicals in the game. Nobody came to see you. You give a kid a warning. You don’t call no taunting technicals in the playoffs. Don’t do that.
“For staring, don’t do that.”
Former MVP Nikola Jokic took the technical free throw and swished it to be trialing by four points.
However, the technical didn’t have an overwhelming effect on the outcome of the game, which saw the Timberwolves gain the upper hand with a 106-99 victory to start the series.
Edwards still had no problem racking up a playoff career-high 43 points along with seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal across 42 minutes.
Throughout the playoffs he has averaged 33.4 points on 53.2 percent shooting from the field.
