Chris Finch discusses the Timberwolves overcoming a hurdle that all fans know about

The Minnesota Timberwolves 110-108 overtime win against the Houston Rockets was flat-out bizarre. Beyond the Wolves' recording-breaking 13-point comeback in overtime, the officiating made this game strange. Seemingly every call went against the Wolves. After the game, Chris Finch didn't hold back his thoughts on how the game was called and praised his team for their composure. 

"This game should have ended at regulation. Julius clearly gets fouled on the gather at the end of regulation. Yeah, I mean, guys were certainly frustrated. We took 63 shots in the paint, and we went to the line 10 times. You know, Durant goes the line 12 times himself, but we, you know, we kept going and kept going and kept fighting," Finch said. 

In general, I don't like to blame or even discuss the refs, but the officiating in this game was objectively awful. Finch brought up some great points: Randle was mauled on the last play of regulation, and the Rockets' shooting 15 more free throws despite Minnesota attacking the paint is strange.

Rudy Gobert being called for an away-from-the-play foul at the end of the fourth quarter, Naz Reid being ejected in overtime after seemingly normal dialogue with Scott Foster, and Julius Randle being called for a flagrant foul after running into a screen include three of the more egregious calls. Even after listing these specific plays, there were numerous other bad calls.

In the end, it didn't matter as the Wolves pulled off a crucial win. A win like this could help power a surge for the Timberwolves to close out the season. 

The Timberwolves pulled off a win with the deck stacked against them

Beyond the bad calls, Jaden McDaniels left the game with an injury, Gobert fouled out, and, as noted, Reid was ejected. On top of all this, Anthony Edwards and Ayo Dosunmu were sidelined with injuries for the whole game. 

This led the Timberwolves to play Mike Conley (who actually started) and Terrence Shannon Jr. for key minutes in overtime after both players had largely been out of the rotation since the All-Star break. 

To Finch's earlier point, without some of the bad calls, the game would have been over in regulation. Still, the Wolves kept fighting, and against all odds, they found a way to win. 

The Wolves seemed to use the officiating as a rallying cry. After the game, Julius Randle was walking down the hallway saying, "That (explicative) didn't work, Scott Foster." As such, it's fair to expect that this also brought the team together when things got tough in overtime. 

Randle deserves a ton of credit for his impact down the stretch. Not only did he hit the game-winning shot, but he played terrific defense on Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun. 

The Timberwolves not folding under all this adversity is a great sign as the playoffs roll around. Winning a game like this proves that the Timberwolves are never out of a game, and that's a powerful trait in the playoffs. It also proves they're a connected group, which is something that has been questioned this season. 

All in all, this was one of the more miraculous wins I can ever remember, and heading into the playoffs, a game like this should be a powerful reminder of what this team is capable of.