In the first game of the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs that ended today, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were playing away, took the lead and defeated the Denver Nuggets 106-99 to take a 1-0 lead. Anthony Edwards was unstoppable in this match, but the referees did their best to stop him.
Towards the end of the third quarter, Edwards scored a brilliant score near the baseline against Reggie Jackson's close defense, and glared at Reggie with both eyes after the score, meaning you can't do it, and ended up receiving a technical foul, which caused a lot of controversy.
Current TNT commentator Reggie Miller also expressed his incomprehension of the decision: "I'm sorry, I didn't understand the purpose of the decision, it's the second round of the playoffs, the players are always in high spirits, it's normal for this kind of action. And fellow commentator Jamal Crawford also said: "It's horrible, you can't celebrate after a score, you can't stare at each other, otherwise you're going to get a technical foul." ”
What makes this penalty scale even more puzzling is that at the 8-plus minute mark in the fourth quarter, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray still made a three-pointer and got a free throw after being fouled by Timberwolves center Carl Anthony Towns, and then immediately lay on the ground and made a finger gun motion at Towns, who received his fifth foul. According to the rules of the league, such actions are expressly forbidden, but the referees on the field turn a blind eye.
Of course, in the end, it didn't matter, because Edwards was on a hot game all day, scoring 43 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks on 17-of-29 shooting, making him only the second player in history to score more than 40 points in two consecutive games under the age of 22, the other being the late superstar Kobe Bryant.