{"id":138329,"date":"2025-05-07T10:42:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=138329"},"modified":"2025-05-07T10:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:42:14","slug":"anthony-edwards-responds-to-chris-finchs-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/07\/anthony-edwards-responds-to-chris-finchs-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Edwards Responds To Chris Finch’s Criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Finch didn\u2019t mince words after the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> fell short in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal. Despite Golden State Warriors<\/a> star Stephen Curry<\/a> leaving the game early with a hamstring injury, the Wolves failed to capitalize. The 99-88 loss left fans and analysts stunned, especially considering the early exit of Curry. Chris Finch turned his attention directly to Anthony Edwards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anthony Edwards Responds To Chris Finch’s Criticism\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cIt starts with Ant,\u201d Finch said<\/a>. \u201cI thought he struggled, and the light just went out a bit.\u201d The Chris Finch-Anthony Edwards relationship came into focus as the head coach called on his star to raise his level.<\/p>\n

Edwards Starts Slow, Tries to Recover<\/h3>\n

Edwards ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring this season, averaging 27.6 points per game. But in Game 1, he looked lost. Edwards scored only one point in the first half, missing his first 10 shots. He finally saw a bucket drop late in the game, ending with 23 points on 9-for-23 shooting. The Timberwolves went into halftime trailing 44-31, a hole they never climbed out of.<\/p>\n

Even as the Warriors built a 23-point lead, Minnesota never cut the deficit to fewer than nine in the second half. The lack of urgency troubled Finch. \u201cYou\u2019re the leader,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to set the tone.\u201d The coach made it clear that he expects more from the face of the franchise.<\/p>\n

Accountability and Leadership<\/h3>\n

Edwards didn\u2019t run from the criticism. \u201cThey can blame me,\u201d he said<\/a> after the game. \u201cWe just didn\u2019t play good enough.\u201d He pointed to his defensive effort\u2014two steals and pressure that held Golden State to 37.2% shooting in the first half\u2014as proof he still impacted the game. But Finch didn\u2019t want to coach effort at this point in the postseason.<\/p>\n

Finch expects leadership, especially when things go sideways. Even if shots don’t fall, energy must remain high. \u201cIf I have to talk to guys about bringing energy for a playoff game, we\u2019re not on the same page,\u201d he said bluntly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Anthony
May 6, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) controls the ball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) in the first quarter during game one of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Historically Bad Shooting Night<\/h3>\n

The Timberwolves couldn\u2019t buy a three-pointer. They went 0-for-15 from deep in the first half\u2014something they hadn\u2019t done since 2018. Their final tally? Just 5-for-29. According to ESPN, their 12-for-76 stretch across two games set a new low for playoff three-point shooting.<\/p>\n

Finch also blasted the team\u2019s transition play. \u201cOur decision-making was diabolical,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cEven with 18 Warriors turnovers, we got just 10 fast-break points.\u201d There is so little margin for error in the playoffs. Such opportunities can’t be wasted.<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead to Game 2<\/h3>\n

Despite the setback, veterans like Mike Conley<\/a> believe in a response. \u201cI expect us to be better,\u201d he said. \u201cWe made mental mistakes we can fix.\u201d Edwards also looked ahead with confidence. \u201cNext game, we\u2019ll shoot the ball really well,\u201d he promised<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chris Finch hopes that Anthony Edwards regains the form he showed in the first round. Against the Lakers, Edwards dominated<\/a>. He read defenses perfectly, made clutch decisions, and controlled the tempo.<\/p>\n

Now, the Timberwolves need that version of Edwards to return. Game 2 offers a chance to reset the tone. The Wolves will need leadership, better shooting, and above all, energy. Finch has issued the challenge. Edwards has accepted the challenge. Now, it’s up to him to walk the talk moving forward.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris Finch didn\u2019t mince words after the Minnesota Timberwolves fell short in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal. Despite Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry leaving the game early with a hamstring injury, the Wolves failed to capitalize. The 99-88 loss left fans and analysts stunned, especially considering the early exit of Curry. Chris […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":138331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_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":[62,1608,21,3],"tags":[50041,2109,4181,48],"class_list":["post-138329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-timberwolves","category-news","tag-2025-nba-playoffs","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-chris-finch","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138329","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\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138332,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138329\/revisions\/138332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}