T-Wolves' Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert Called out by Fans After OT Loss to Lakers

Throughout much of Wednesday's play-in tournament game against the Los Angeles Lakers, it appeared that the Minnesota Timberwolves had no issues dealing with the absence of center Rudy Gobert.

The Timberwolves led for nearly the entire second half, but they couldn't finish the job in a 108-102 overtime road loss at Crypto.com Arena. With the defeat, Minnesota failed to secure the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and will be matched with the winner of Wednesday's game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder.

It wasn't a surprising result, with Gobert and Jaden McDaniels missing the game. The latter broke his hand after punching a wall during Sunday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans. However, that game is remembered more for Gobert punching teammate Kyle Anderson, which resulted in Minnesota suspending him for Tuesday's contest.

Without Gobert in the lineup, the Timberwolves offense actually thrived for much of the game with better spacing for players to operate and led by as many as 15. Five players scored in double-figures for Minnesota, led by star center Karl-Anthony Towns' 24 points and 11 rebounds. Veteran point guard Mike Conley turned back the clock with 23 points and three clutch free throws to send the game to OT, and Anderson added 12 points and 13 assists.

Unfortunately, the young T'Wolves went cold in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Star guard Anthony Edwards didn't have anything going all night, finishing with nine points on 3-of-17 shooting.

Fans on Twitter couldn't help but to unleash their wrath on Gobert for his self-inflicted absence in such a crucial game:

Edwards wasn't let off the hook for his abysmal performance:

The Timberwolves have not indicated if Gobert will be allowed to return for Friday's win-or-go-home matchup. But if Tuesday's game is any indication, they need all hands on deck if they hope to keep their season alive.

Minnesota will try to regroup so they can avoid another letdown on Friday against the winner of the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans play-in matchup.