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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Timberwolves deserved credit when 76ers center Joel Embiid didn’t play in the team’s final game on Nov. 22, which turned into a simple win for the Wolves.
But the Wolves had no such schedule luck Wednesday in Philadelphia, where the reigning MVP was playing like it and, to hear them tell it, getting that kind of whistle.
Behind Embiid’s 51 points, adding 17 from the free throw line, Philadelphia came out on top in the fourth quarter to win 127-113 on a frustrating night for the Wolves.
“Man, my brother just texts me like, ‘Bruh, I’ve never noticed anything like that. ‘ He’s unstoppable, man,” goalie Anthony Edwards said. “Honestly, I don’t watch them lose a game. I don’t watch them lose. “
Embiid came out to a standing ovation after making 17 of 25 shots from the field (he missed a 3-pointer on the way to 51), while Tyrese Maxey scored 15 of his 35 points in a fourth quarter that Philadelphia won 37-26. The solid defense faltered against the Wolves after entering Game 4 with a score of 90-87. The decisive drive came when Philadelphia increased its lead to 10-4-96 as Embiid rested the first five minutes, 39 seconds of the fourth. returned in the game and finished off for Wolves.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 problems and thirteen rebounds, while Edwards had 27 problems. Rudy Gobert, who struggled for most of the night, had eight points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. His absence on defense was noticeable for the Wolves, and he said the referees set the tone for the night by fouling him two questionable fouls just 3:29 into the game.
“It’s even harder for me when referees call sure fouls when they call the first two fouls and that gets me in trouble,” Gobert said. “Then it’s even harder to stop it. I’d like to be allowed “We, we call the game in a fairer way. So I can at least try to be myself and try to make him work even harder. “
Gobert also expressed some frustration with how he has been officiated early in recent road games, like a loss at New Orleans on Dec. 11 and a win at Dallas last Thursday. He said he has been on the receiving end of a lot of uncalled contact on offense while getting called for quick fouls while defending.
“It doesn’t feel natural, especially with the things I’ve been able to accomplish in my career, to get into the game and make two quick mistakes like that, with everything they’re doing to me on the other end of the phone,” it’s weird. There are some things I guess we’ll never know, we’ll never understand, and I don’t need to live on that. I don’t need to draw my attention to that, but it affects our team when I sit for two minutes. , 3 minutes of play.
“Come back with two fouls and prove it’s me, but it’s hard to be you when you’ve got 3 guys waiting to get you out of the game as soon as they can. “
Gobert might be hearing from the league office about a fine after his comments while Wolves coach Chris Finch and Edwards will write out a check after receiving technicals. At one point in the second quarter, Finch shouted at one official, “Stop protecting him,” referring to Embiid, who was standing nearby.
The Wolves knew coming into the night that the officiating crew for Wednesday’s game had a high rate of calling fouls, so they knew to expect a tightly whistled contest. Despite the Wolves’ griping, the referees called more fouls on Philadelphia than Minnesota (25-22), though Philadelphia went to line 32 times to the Wolves’ 24. But from the field, Philadelphia shot 61% in the fourth quarter, 57% for the second half.
“Listen, it’s tricky when you cross the line 18 times and do 17, it’s a very effective attack. It’s hard to beat that,” Finch said. And they shot 53 percent, but Rudy’s exit in the first 4 minutes really hurt us. “
BOX SCORE: Philadelphia 127, Wolves 113
Wolves have tried to be more mature and complain less about refereeing this season. That’s one of the points of good luck they have to start the season. They couldn’t do it on Wednesday.
“I don’t enjoy talking about the officials,” Gobert said. “But you have to talk about it because it impacts the game.”
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