Wolves coach Chris Finch is still furious about losing Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Warriors, and has decided to blame officiating for letting their rivals play aggressively throughout their 99-88 loss on Tuesday.
The Minnesota tactician decided to submit clips to the league’s office, proving how Golden State were targeting big man Rudy Gobert with violent plays. “On defensive rebounding, they do a lot of fouling, shoving, holding, pushing and tackling Rudy,” Finch said after practice Wednesday.
“That’s clear. We sent a bunch of those clips into the league. In fact, I’m not sure I know another player in the league with Rudy’s pedigree that is allowed to be physically beaten on the way he is. And so, we’ve got to address that one way or another,” the Timberwolves coach insisted.
The truth is, the Warriors dominated on their glass 51-41, despite Gobert’s 11 rebounds. However, he earned significant less in comparison to the 24 boards he earned when the Wolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers on April 30’s Game 5 of the first-round matchups.
“We’ll certainly try to take justice into our own hands whenever we can — I think that’s the nature of a physical sport — but by the same token, my god, you should see some of these clips,” Finch added. “They look like pulling guards and linemen out there just taking shots at Rudy.”
Minnesota was called for 21 fouls, while Golden State had 18. However, rival coach Steve Kerr also had his fair share or complaints about the referee’s performance. “I was upset the first 10 minutes of the game, it was just like Houston all over again,” Kerr said Wednesday, mostly concerned about Stephen Curry.
“They were bear-hugging Steph and they could have called six fouls, but the league has established the physicality in the playoffs. Chris talked about it last week, just the overall physicality, to me it’s crazy out there what’s happening,” the Warriors tactician told the press.
