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NBA fans watched in awe as Karl-Anthony Towns put on a mind-boggling performance on Monday against the Charlotte Hornets. “KAT” erupted for 44 first-half points that broke the record of 43 set by the late Kobe Bryant in 2006. Towns’ sizzling-hot night steadily fizzled starting the second half until the Minnesota Timberwolves embarrassingly lost 128-125.
The ending was without controversy, though. Charlotte led 126-125 with 11.9 seconds left in the game. Anthony Edwards melted the clock to 6.5 before giving it to Towns at the top of the key. With only Terry Rozier guarding him, “KAT” spun and quickly drove into the lane where he was met by four defenders.
Just as he attempted the shot, Karl-Anthony Towns’ left hand was hit by Rozier and then again by Leaky Black. The Timberwolves bench was stunned that not one of the referees blew a whistle.
On Tuesday, the NBA’s last-two-minute report came out. It showed that the referees missed 10 calls, including two fouls that the Hornets should have been whistled for in Towns’ late-game shot. The update was promptly greeted with reactions on X (formerly Twitter):
“Shows that the NBA is rigged”
After setting a record for most points in the first half, Karl-Anthony Towns added 14 in the third quarter. He led the Timberwolves to a 107-94 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes of the game. It all went downhill for Minnesota from there as Charlotte outscored them 36-18 to come away with a stunning come-from-behind win.
The Hornets’ game plan was simple starting the fourth quarter: make it as tough as possible for Towns to score and pray he gets cold. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, the strategy worked, albeit with a little help from what the league has decided as missed calls by the referees.
Chris Finch didn’t blame the NBA referees for the embarrassing loss
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch didn’t think the NBA referees had anything to do with his team’s embarrassing loss. He didn’t complain about how the game was officiated. Finch vented his frustrations on no one but his players alone:
“There’s a lot of ways to be immature and there’s a lot of immature performances here throughout the roster. We totally disrespected the game [and] ourselves. We got exactly what we deserved.”
Chris Finch was disgusted by how the Timberwolves played defense and said that the game didn’t slip away from them in the fourth quarter. He added that right “from the jump,” they were already playing “immature” basketball.”
Finch will likely not even take a look at the NBA’s last two-minute report. He called out his players in public and is still likely getting on them for the humiliating way they played.
