The Oklahoma City Thunder are a team that play with an intense level of physicality. That physicality has been a major asset to their defense, but it also may be something they get away with more often than not. 

At least, that might be what Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch might have said after the game had he not been ejected less than six minutes into the game. 

Finch became incensed with the referees early in the game after a serious of early hard contacts by the Thunder on Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle that weren't called. 

Finch began jawing with referees and suffered a quick leash. Once the ejection was final, Finch went off and charged toward officials, having to be held back by his coaching staff. 

One of many responsibilities a head coach has is to protect their players and Finch certainly put that quality on display in his tirade. That kind of passion and loyalty is part of what endears a player to their head coach and Edwards appreciated the defense his head coach showed for him, even if it resulted in an early ejection. 

Edwards expressed his appreciation in an expletive-filled postgame interview. 

“I’m ******* with that, I’m ******* with that, that’s my dog, so I’m not happy he got thrown out the game but if I would have saw him going back at the ref the second time I probably would have pulled him back," Edwards said (via Andrew Dukowitz). 

No head coach and a possibly biased whistle didn't hold Minnesota back, it seems. The Timberwolves trailed at the half, but an explosive third quarter where the Timberwolves dropped 35 points and a fourth quarter that was defined by defense, where they limited the NBA's best team to 22 points, sealed the Minnesota victory 112-107.

There's been no word yet as to if there will be any further punishments for Finch in the form of fines or further suspension. At this point, Timberwolves fans can expect their head coach to be back at the helm for Minnesota's next game, a Dec. 21 bout against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

As dominant as the Thunder have been, allegations of favorable whistle have followed them throughout the season. Oklahoma City doesn't stand out when it comes to free throw attempts per game, averaging 24.7 FTA, but the ire they've drawn from fans has more been directed toward what they get away with, rather than what they gain from foul calls themselves. 

Either way, it didn't help them much in the final result of the game.