{"id":133450,"date":"2025-04-10T04:57:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T08:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=133450"},"modified":"2025-04-10T04:57:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T08:57:39","slug":"chris-finch-comments-following-blown-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/10\/chris-finch-comments-following-blown-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"Timberwolves\u2019 Coach Dismisses Concerns Following Blown Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe\u2019ll shake it off. We gotta be better.\u201d That\u2019s how Timberwolves coach Chris Finch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/timberwolves\/minnesota-timberwolves-news\/wolves-chris-finch-shrugs-off-horrifying-loss-to-bucks-tough-one-let-s-go-01jrc75n8h3d\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">described<\/a> the mentality around his squad fresh off arguably their worst loss of the season with his comments. No harsh criticisms of his players, even if they deserved it after that performance. No sense of urgency, unusual given that the loss <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/07\/western-conference-playoff-tiebreakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">dropped them<\/a> from potentially as high as fourth seed all the way to eighth place. And no concern that this could become a trend, despite a number of late blown leads over the season. His nonchalant attitude could certainly rub some fans the wrong way, but inside the locker room, sources reported a much more positive outlook. Hopefully the team can stay unified for a final playoff push.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Timberwolves\u2019 Coach Dismisses Concerns Following Blown Lead<\/b><\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Is this a microcosm of the season?<br \/>Chris Finch: It\u2019s a bad 4th quarter against a zone defense. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a microcosm of the season. <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Timberwolves?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Timberwolves<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/r8YASKgaC1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/r8YASKgaC1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nadine Babu (@NadineBabu) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NadineBabu\/status\/1909803772328472794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>How Did This Happen?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a bad fourth quarter against a zone defense,\u201d elaborated Finch. Leading by 24 points early in the fourth quarter, the Minnesota Timberwolves seemed poised to extend their win streak to six games. Hot shooting nights from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/divindo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donte DiVincenzo<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/reidna01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Naz Reid<\/a> had them in control, leading 95-71. Milwaukee was floundering, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> had been a non-factor. Then, Milwaukee made a desperate defensive switch \u2014 the Bucks went to a zone defense in one final attempt to disrupt the Wolves. It did more than that. Over the next eight minutes, Milwaukee ripped off a staggering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/playbyplay\/_\/gameId\/401705718\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">34-3 run<\/a>, taking a lead that they never relinquished. It was a complete and total collapse in a game that the Wolves could hardly afford to lose.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><b>Yet Another Debilitating Loss in a Season Full of Them<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe&#8217;ve had some tough losses before in the season,\u201d said Finch. He\u2019s not wrong. The Minnesota Timberwolves are one behind the NBA lead (Miami Heat) in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/clutch-traditional?dir=D&amp;sort=L\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clutch time losses<\/a> this season. Of the 33 losses on the year, 26 of them have been within five points in the final five minutes. It\u2019s a statistic that passes the eye test as well. When the Wolves are down big, they often put together late runs to make the game close. Yet when the tables are turned, and Minnesota is the one holding a large lead, they often take their foot off the gas and let the opposition back into the contest.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><b>Wolves Star Anthony Edwards Echoes Chris Finch\u2019s Comments<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe can\u2019t really think too much about it. It happened. I don\u2019t think we feel too down about it,\u201d is how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a> felt after the loss, speaking in the locker room to Wolves beat writer Chris Hine. His attitude, a mirror of Finch\u2019s own comments, can be taken two ways, especially given the upcoming pressure of playoff games. One is that this team doesn\u2019t understand the importance of holding onto big leads. However, what seems more likely is that this squad is prioritizing what they can control, and that is the schedule in front of them. Rather than ruminating on past games, they look ahead, see a big game against Western Conference foe Memphis, and set their sights on victory in that enormous contest. For the sake of the fans, hopefully the latter is true. It&#8217;s imperative that the Timberwolves coach and star player are on the same page. With three wins in their final three games, Minnesota could still avoid the play-in and reach the sixth seed. A loss in any of those three would likely relegate them to the Play-In Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: \u00a9 Kyle Ross-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Anthony Edwards: &quot;We good. I mean, it\u2019s a part of the game. Of course we didn\u2019t want to lose. But we can\u2019t be in bad spirits because we know we need to win next game. So, we can\u2019t really think too much about it. It happened. I don\u2019t think we feel too down about it.&quot; <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/r38mLiKUjV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/r38mLiKUjV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChristopherHine\/status\/1909807507511398588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll shake it off. We gotta be better.\u201d That\u2019s how Timberwolves coach Chris Finch described the mentality around his squad fresh off arguably their worst loss of the season with his comments. No harsh criticisms of his players, even if they deserved it after that performance. No sense of urgency, unusual given that the loss [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5485,"featured_media":133470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,21,62],"tags":[2109,4181],"class_list":["post-133450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-timberwolves","category-nba","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-chris-finch"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5485"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133450"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133465,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133450\/revisions\/133465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}