Takeaways: Anthony Edwards hits go-ahead three late as Timberwolves overcome Chris Finch’s ejection to top Thunder

For most of the first six minutes of Friday night’s game against defending NBA champion Oklahoma City at Target Center, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch sat on the bench quiet and didn’t argue many calls.

But after a couple non-calls on the same possession, Finch erupted on the officials, chased them out to halfcourt and had assistants and security hold him back as he earned the second ejection of his NBA coaching career.

While the Wolves have had trouble getting proper motivation to face other opponents in the regular season, that’s usually not a problem against Oklahoma City, and the Wolves came away with a 112-107 victory to hand the Thunder only their third loss in 28 games this season.

The Wolves were in it thanks to a gritty defensive effort while they struggled to score on the offensive end with Anthony Edwards back from a foot injury following a three-game absence. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a three-pointer to break a 102-102 tie with 1 minute, 56 seconds to play. Edwards answered with 37.8 seconds left with a stepback three from the left wing after a Rudy Gobert tap out on a missed free throw. Edwards’ three put the Wolves ahead 108-107.

The Thunder missed twice on their next possession before Randle hit a pair of free throws. Edwards stole the ball from Gilgeous-Alexander on the Thunder’s last attempt to tie it. The Wolves closed the game on an 8-0 run.

Edwards finished with 26 points while Gilgeous-Alexander had 35. Chet Holmgren had 14 for the Thunder.

Finch has had philosophical differences with how officials call things for Oklahoma City on the defensive end of the floor. Last season he said the Thunder get away with playing defense while fouling. After what appeared to be two missed calls on Edwards and Randle early, Finch had already seen enough for the evening with 6 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

Finch’s ejection seemed to accomplish its purpose; the Wolves got to the free-throw line throughout the night. They ended up with 47 free-throw attempts, although they hit only 33 of them. The Thunder were 28-for-30 from the line.

Edwards was not on a minutes restriction following his foot injury and ended up playing 41 minutes. He shot 9-for-20 and looked a lot like his usual self on the night. If he had any issues jumping off his foot, it didn’t show; he ended up with 12 rebounds.

Mike Conley missed his fourth consecutive game because of right Achilles tendinopathy while Jaylen Clark missed the game because of an illness.

BOXSCORE: Wolves 112, Oklahoma City 107

NBA standings

Bones Hyland came off the bench to give them an injection of offense, finishing with 13 points, including nine in the first half.

There haven’t been many games this season the Wolves played to their full potential, but their second matchup against the Thunder offered a chance to show the Wolves where they stood in the Western Conference. The Wolves went toe-to-toe with the best team in the league and came out on top. Now the challenge will be to play at this level of intensity more often.