{"id":192681,"date":"2026-04-26T19:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T23:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=192681"},"modified":"2026-04-26T19:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T23:20:16","slug":"how-does-chris-finch-replace-edwards-divincenzo-in-rotation-as-wolves-look-to-close-out-nuggets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/26\/how-does-chris-finch-replace-edwards-divincenzo-in-rotation-as-wolves-look-to-close-out-nuggets\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Chris Finch Replace Edwards and DiVincenzo In Rotation As Wolves Look To Close Out Nuggets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Timberwolves are one game from pulling a first-round upset in the 2026 NBA playoffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Minnesota, the No. 6 seed in the West<\/a>, took a commanding 3-1 lead over the third-seeded Denver Nuggets with a 112-95 victory last night, despite losing Donte DiVincenzo<\/a> and Anthony Edwards<\/a> to injuries. DiVincenzo only played a minute of the game while Edwards got injured late in the first half.<\/p>\n

How Does Chris Finch Replace Edwards and DiVincenzo In Rotation As Wolves Look To Close Out Nuggets<\/h2>\n

With DiVincenzo and Edwards ruled out for the second half, Ayo Dosunmu stepped up his game, and the Timberwolves ramped up their defense. Trailing 54-50 at halftime, the Wolves took over in the second half, led by Julius Randle<\/a> and Dosunmu. Randle and Dosunmu combined for 24 of their 32 points as the Wolves led by four heading into the fourth.<\/p>\n

Dosunmu finished the game with 43 points, including 27 in the second half, on 13 of 17 shooting from the field, 5 of 5 from the 3-point line, and 12 of 12 from the free throw line. The 43 points were the most points by a reserve in a playoff game since Fred Brown scored 45 off the bench for the Seattle Supersonics in 1976.<\/span><\/p>\n

Minnesota outscored Denver 62-42 in the second quarter. The Timberwolves shot 43.8% from the floor in the second half. More importantly, they held the Nuggets to just 9 of 37 from the field (24.3%) and 2 of 15 from deep (15.4%) over the final 24 minutes. They also outrebounded the Nuggets 29-20 and won the turnover battle (9-7). Naz Reid<\/a> added 17 points and nine rebounds to lead three other Wolves in double-figures. Meanwhile,\u00a0 Rudy Gobert<\/a> grabbed 15 rebounds with five on the offensive end.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Just proud of the guys, stepping up, fighting for each other \u2014 literally and figuratively<\/em>,\u201d head coach\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Chris Finch told reporters. \u201c<\/span>These teams don\u2019t like each other; there\u2019s just no secret. You play each other this many times, where things are at stake, even a Christmas Day game is a battle; it feels like a playoff game. It\u2019s how it goes<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards Injuries<\/h3>\n

DiVincenzo was ruled out for 79 seconds with a lower right leg injury after being helped off the court, unable to put weight on the leg. He has since been ruled out for the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the heart and soul of everything we do,” \u00a0Finch said after last night’s gam<\/a>e, “We\u2019ll love him and be there for him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps<\/a> reports that DiVincenzo is undergoing surgery today in New York. Bontempts added that the surgeon, Dr. Martin O\u2019Malley, also fixed up Boston’s Jayson Tatum after he underwent the same surgery in the playoffs last season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves received a little better news about Edwards. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania<\/a>, Edwards is expected to miss multiple weeks due to a bone bruise and a leg hyperextension.<\/p>\n

Edwards suffered the injury with 2:43 left in the second quarter. Edwards landed awkwardly as he tried to block Cam Johnson’s layup with his left leg bent backward.<\/p>\n

“Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has sustained a bone bruise<\/a> and hyperextension in his left knee and is expected to miss multiple weeks, sources tell ESPN,” Charnia said via X earlier today. “Results showed Edwards avoided any ligament damage, but he will now miss time. Edwards will begin rehab immediately.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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How Will Chris Finch Replace Edwards and DiVincenzo?<\/h2>\n

It is expected that Edwards will also miss some games in the second round if the Wolves get past the Nuggets. So, the big question for Finch is, how will he manage his rotation for the rest of the series?<\/p>\n

Minnesota is in Denver for Game 5 on Monday night with the tip set for 10:30 p.m. (ET). If the Nuggets extend the series, it shifts back to Minnesota for Game 6 on Thursday. Game 7 is slated for May 2 back in Denver.<\/p>\n

Dosunmu and Mike Conley<\/a> make the most sense to step into the starting lineup for Finch. Both players started the second half of Game 4.<\/p>\n

Dosunmu has been excellent in the series and has been a part-time starter throughout his career. The 26-year-old has scored in double-figures in three of the four games against the Nuggets this series, topping the 20-point mark twice and doled out five or more assists twice. He averages 22.8 points, 4.0 assists, and 2.8 rebounds in 31.0 minutes. Additionally, he is making 2.3 threes a game with shooting splits of 64\/52.9\/94.7.<\/p>\n

Dosunmu has started nine of his 28 appearances since being acquired from Chicago. Dosunmu has played exceptionally well in those nine starts, where he has scored efficiently and been fantastic on the glass. He posted a plus\/minus rating of +8.2, and the Wolves were 5-4 in those nine contests.<\/p>\n

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What Will The Rest of Finch’s Rotation Look Like?<\/h3>\n

Conley saw his most action of the playoffs on Saturday. Conley tallied four points on 2 of 4 shooting, including 1 of 2 from the 3-point line, with four assists and two steals over 21 in Game 4. He has shot the ball well in 36 minutes of action in the series, though his fouling is a concern.<\/p>\n

Conley, who started 15 games this year, struggled mightily during the regular season. However, Conley did play better in his 15 starts, averaging 7.5 points, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals. Conley has also drained 1.7 threes with shooting splits of 37.5\/37.5\/ 88.0. Additionally, he has scored in double figures in five of his starts, and the Wolves were 9-6 in those contests.<\/p>\n

If Conley and Dosunmu do in fact start, Bones Hyland<\/a> figures to get significant time backing up Conley. Hyland has played arguably the best basketball of his career this year. The 25-year-old point guard has also played well this series, scoring 13 points in Game 2 and then tallying six points along with four rebounds in Game 3. He then produced eight points and doled out seven assists in Game 4.<\/p>\n

Kyle Anderson<\/a>, Terrence Shannon Jr<\/a>., and Reid also figure to see more time. It is also possible that Joe Ingles, who has seen one minute of action in the series, will serve as the Wolves’ 10th man.<\/p>\n

To possibly complicate matters further, the NBA is investigating the incident at the end of the game, per ESPN<\/a>. Nikola Jokic took exception to Jaden McDaniels<\/a> scoring a layup late in the game. Jokic and Randle were ejected. However, the video doesn’t really show<\/a> anything that a suspension will be coming for any of the offenders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Timberwolves are one game from pulling a first-round upset in the 2026 NBA playoffs. Minnesota, the No. 6 seed in the West, took a commanding 3-1 lead over the third-seeded Denver Nuggets with a 112-95 victory last night, despite losing Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards to injuries. DiVincenzo only played a minute of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":192838,"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":[1608,20,2,21,62,3],"tags":[50432,2109,3967,4181,50442,510,208,4745,72,394],"class_list":["post-192681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-featured","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-news","tag-2026-nba-playoffs","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-ayo-dosunmu","tag-chris-finch","tag-doug-divincenzo","tag-julius-randle","tag-mike-conley","tag-nba-injuries","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-rudy-gobert"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192681","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\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192681"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192840,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192681\/revisions\/192840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}