OKLAHOMA CITY — Anthony Edwards drove through the middle of the Oklahoma City Thunder defense and drained a ferocious two-handed dunk in traffic that was the key to a 107-101 win for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. One goal and first place, but he didn’t celebrate. The Western Conference is in jeopardy.

Instead, Edwards complained, and the Thunder hit a field goal with 1:57 left to extend Minnesota’s lead to four points. Edwards grabbed his left wrist immediately after landing and said he thought he was fouled on the play. He stared at captain Mark Lindsay, who was standing a few feet away from the baseline, then raised his arms in the air, shrugged animatedly, and grabbed his left wrist again.

Edwards maintained his composure during the Timberwolves’ eventual victory — helped by stellar defensive performances from center Rudy Gobert and forward Jaden McDaniels — and criticized the referees multiple times after the game. . “I’m going to take the fine because the refs didn’t give us any calls tonight,” he declared in the Timberwolves’ televised postgame interview and continued to harp on the issue in the locker room.

“The referees were terrible tonight. Yeah, they were terrible,” Edwards told ESPN without prompting. “We were playing an 8-on-5 game.”

Edwards made 10 of 20 shots and 4 of 4 free throws, scoring a Timberwolves-high 27 points. Edwards thinks he’s earned more chances.

“The cat stuck out his tongue tonight, so that’s all good,” Edwards said of the referees. “It’s not fair, but it’s all good.”

Oklahoma City superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 37 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to help the Thunder stay in the game after Rookie of the Year candidate big man Chet Holmgren had an off night. The player scored only 4 points on 2-for-2 shooting. 9 shots. Small forward McDaniels is Holmgren’s primary defender, leaving Gobert to guard Josh Guidy or the Thunder’s worst 3-point shooter on the floor, bringing down his defender to clog up the paint.

Gilgeous-Alexander made 15 of 16 free throws, one more than all Timberwolves players combined.

“It’s a little tough guarding him if that’s the case, but we did a good job of just mixing it up and trying to fly around,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “They had some guys that we shot really well from beyond the arc and we were willing to live with them and they did some damage to us, but it came off at the right time for us.”

Edwards’ dissatisfaction with the officiating centered on a few missed free throws he made, rather than the whistles he received on Gilgeous-Alexander, who ranked third in the league in free throw attempts.

“He got to the free throw line in his sleep,” Edwards said. “Yeah, he’s unstoppable. No one can guard him. He’s good. He’s super good. But, the officiating tonight was terrible.”

Timberwolves power forward Karl-Anthony Towns scored 21 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. He likened the game to a “championship game” because of the high physical fitness and intensity. Both teams are tied for first place in the Western Conference but both lost to teams at the bottom; the Timberwolves lost in San Antonio on Saturday and the Thunder were defeated in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.

The game was a back-and-forth, competitive affair for almost the entire fourth quarter, with the Timberwolves mired in a clutch situation without point guard Mike Conley, who is out with a sore hamstring. . Minnesota entered the night 1-3 without Conley, including close losses to the lottery-bound Charlotte Hornets and Spurs last week.

With 2:32 left in the game, Edwards read the defense in a pick-and-roll with Gobert and hit McDaniels for an open corner three-pointer to give the Timberwolves the lead for good. Edwards dunked hard on the next possession.

“He’s calm,” Gobert said of Edwards. “He didn’t get the call but stayed calm, trusted his teammates and I thought he made the right plays 95 percent of the time, which is awesome.”

The Timberwolves sealed the victory with some suffocating defense, highlighted by a breakaway by Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams on the ensuing possession, but were unable to do so before three-time Defensive Player of the Year Gobert Dragging his feet under the pressure.

“This is what I live for – to win games,” said Gobert, who finished with 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting, 18 rebounds and a team-high plus-minus of 11. “That’s why I’m here and that’s what I’m very proud of on both sides of the ball. Obviously, when there’s two minutes left in the game and it’s a tight game or a close game, everything It all goes up – focus, intensity. That’s what I love to do.”

The win exemplified the type of team the Timberwolves, with one of the league’s top defenses, strive to be.

“It’s fun when we play with that mentality and we can see how we can maximize our potential,” Gobert said.

Although the victory was enjoyable, Edwards was angry with the officiating that he considered unfavorable. The 22-year-old, a first-time All-Star last season who averaged career-highs 25.9 points and 5.3 assists, said he feels he doesn’t get as much respect from referees as other stars around the league. He was willing to accept a fine from the league office to vent some of his frustrations after Monday’s win.

“I haven’t earned it yet [referees’ respect] But, so that’s OK,” Edwards said. “But I thought the refereeing was terrible tonight. terrible. As a team, we didn’t get any calls. I got fouled multiple times and I walked up to the referee and told him, “Hey, can you watch this?” They just shook their heads. Yes. Then soon someone came off their team and got hit, which was a foul.

“So I felt from the beginning tonight that it wasn’t a fair game. That’s why I’m so happy that we won the game.”