Disappointed Chris Finch Calmly Sounds Off on Timberwolves

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Chris Finch - NBA Playoffs - Minnesota Timberwolves at San Antonio Spurs
Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves had an opportunity on Wednesday night to go up 2-0 against the San Antonio Spurs and, not just put them on the ropes in their second round Western Conference playoff series, but actually topple them to the mat, before it even shifted to Minneapolis for the first time.

Had the Wolves come out with more fire and followed up their Game 1 haymaker with a knockdown punch in Game 2, the non-playoff tested Spurs would’ve been forced to collect themselves on the road back at Target Center and somehow find a way to grab a win road win, just to force a Game 5.

And the odds of a San Antonio coming back to win, in that scenario, would have been… pretty much ZERO. History tells us that NBA teams who go up 2-0 in ANY seven game playoff series eventually go on to win 92.3% of the time. And that’s not even factoring in a 2-0 lead, heading back home.

Chris Finch Postgame: MN Timberwolves “punked” by Spurs

Unfortunately, the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t seem interested in delivering any punches on Wednesday night, let alone a fatal blow like they did earlier in Game 1. Instead, the regular season Wolves showed up — a version of this team that we haven’t seen since Game 1 vs Denver, the other blowout loss of this postseason.

Sure, the Wolves couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn Wednesday night, but even that stemmed from their lack of focus and energy. From opening tip, Anthony Edwards and the boys were sloppy on both sides of the floor, showing no aggressiveness on offense and little interest in guarding on defense.

After the game, Chris Finch sounded like my dad talking to 15-22 y/o me on a far too-regular basis. He wasn’t noticeably mad… just extremely disappointed. Chris even told his team in the locker room afterwards that they “got punk’d” by the Spurs, a phrase that hit Anthony Edwards different: “‘Punked’ is crazy…”

On paper, the MN Timberwolves’ biggest problem in Game 2 was their inability to hit shots early. In fact, the Wolves made just 7 of their 24 shots (.292) in the first quarter – 1 for 7 from behind the arc.

And it didn’t get any better in the second quarter, where they shot .301 from the field and .125 from deep (1 for 8). By the time the law of averages caught up a little bit late — .512 FG, .467 3PT in 2nd half — it was too late.

When the dust settled on Game 2 at Frost Bank Center, it was one of the most lopsided playoff losses in Timberwolves history (38 points) — Spurs 133, Wolves 95. But again, Minnesota’s poor shooting performance was just another consequence to their extreme lack of urgency.

Chris Finch dives into what went wrong for Timberwolves in Game 2

Throughout his postgame presser, Finch lamented his team’s focus and energy, while shrugging off questions about more tangible basketball problems. When asked about the Wolves’ offensive struggles, for example, he said nobody wanted to go anywhere. They just wanted to dribble.

“I didn’t like a lot of it. I didn’t like much of it. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s um, you got to get off of [the double-team]. Gotta use it as a catalyst for ball movement, which is what it should be.

I thought we dribbled into tough spots. I thought we were late getting off of [the double-team]. I thought our spacing around [double-teams] wasn’t really good. Um, and our decision-making when the ball came out of there wasn’t good either. So, it was kind of a chain reaction.”

Chris Finch after Timberwolves Game 2 loss

Asked about Anthony Edwards’ struggles in Game 2 against double-teams, Finch said that the Wolves are supposed to use double-teams as a way to spur ball movement and find open shooters/easy baskets.

Unfortunately, the Minnesota Timberwolves weren’t ready for the Spurs’ pressure on Edwards. But after San Antonio’s defensive game plan became clear, the Wolves still struggled to make adjustments that should be built into their offense by now, given how often their superstar faces multiple defenders.

Reporter: “What’s the biggest offensive problem right now, in this series, for you guys?”

Finch: “I think, you know, we’ve got go somewhere. We’re we’re kind of dribbling and going nowhere. We’ve got to be able to punch gaps and play play downhill. That’s what we like to do. Um that’s when we’re at our best.

Chris Finch after Timberwolves Game 2 loss

Finch: MN Timberwolves beat themselves vs Spurs

Most of Game 2 was nothing short of disappointing, Finchy made clear. However, he crowned Jaden McDaniels’ intensity as one of the lone bright spots. When asked about how much it hurt to have Jaden miss a lot of minutes because of foul trouble, the head coach praised his aggressiveness and pointed blame at the refs (again).

Everything else in Game 2, as Finchy saw it, was nothing short of disappointing. The presser finished on a question about the MN Timberwolves’ struggles in transition defense.

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Again, the Chris Finch pointed to bad Wolves offense, and his team coming out “too cool” (as Ant put it). From the coach’s POV, those are what led to the San Antonio’s 29 points off the fast break… compared to the Wolves’ 5 transition points.

To sum up Chis’ thoughts on the Minnesota Timberwolves after Game 2: If his team comes out focused on playing their game Friday night, all of the other issues from Wednesday will take care of themselves.

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