During Tuesday’s West Finals opener, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to draw fouls caused major problems for the Timberwolves. He went to the charity stripe fourteen times, and 11 of his 31 points came from free throws. It was a defensive nightmare for Anthony Edwards and Co., especially Jaden McDaniels, who got fouled out in just 24 minutes. Sure enough, the Wolves ended up getting blown out.

After the brutal loss, McDaniels vowed to not repeat the same mistakes in Game 2: “We just gotta stop fouling. We’re being a little bit too physical. We gotta switch our game plan of how the refs are calling the game.” Drawing fouls is one of the most lethal weapons in SGA’s offensive arsenal. During the regular season, he averaged nearly nine free throw attempts per game. So, Jaden knew what to expect from here on, “He’s gonna get calls and the refs aren’t always gonna be on our side.”

However, when the time came to put his words to action, McDaniels failed to answer the call. During tonight’s Thunder clash, emotions got the better of the Wolves forward once again, causing him to commit a controversial act. He intentionally shoved SGA to the floor during a play in the final quarter while guarding him. Jaden even got penalized with a flagrant foul. But the Wolves star seemed to have no regrets when he addressed his actions in the post-game presser, “I just wanted to foul him for real. I wasn’t even mad. I just had fouls to use.”

Although Jaden McDaniels denied being frustrated by SGA’s style of play, that’s not how on-air announcer Richard Jefferson perceived it. After Jaden pushed the MVP, RJ said on Live TV, “You see Jaden McDaniels here with obvious frustration, just two hands in the back. When we talk to Shai about the free throws and his aggressiveness, he says, ‘I love it. I love it because I know people are thinking about it,’ and he knows that it frustrates his opponents.”

Despite knowing the Thunder’s strategy beforehand, McDaniels finished the game with five personal fouls. His Game 1 realization clearly did not help him. But he is not the only Wolves star agitated by SGA’s controversial tactics.

Anthony Edwards’ Game 1 action hints at major problem for Timberwolves in West Finals

Well, it’s clear that Shai’s foul-drawing techniques are getting on the Wolves’ nerves. While Jaden proved it by shoving the Thunder star on Thursday, Anthony Edwards showed it more subtly on Tuesday. In the opening minutes of Game 1, Ant threw the ball at Shai’s legs after he drew a foul during a drive to the basket. Even SGA was surprised by the act, while the officials handed Edwards a tech for his reaction.

Then, during the post-game presser, Edwards and Julius Randle were caught laughing while pointing at something on the box score sheet. Although the real reason is not confirmed, many believe they were laughing at the free-throw disparity between Shai and other players. Well, SGA was the only player on either team with double-digit free-throw attempts. The closest was Ant with seven. Even tonight, the Thunder superstar shot a game-high 15 free throw attempts, leading his team to an easy victory.

With Shai’s scoring tactics getting on the Wolves’ nerves and them losing both games by double-digit margins, their chances of winning this West Finals are looking bleak. Now, it’s up to them to figure out a way out of this situation and even the series in Minnesota. Do you think they can do it?