Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch confirmed Wednesday that the team submitted video clips to the NBA highlighting what he described as “fouling, holding, shoving, and tackling” Rudy Gobert by Golden State Warriors players during Game 1 of their second-round series.
Finch made the comments during his media availability ahead of Game 2, which tips off Thursday night in Minneapolis.
“There was a play last night where [Brandin] Podziemski clearly grabbed [Gobert], and then he sheds Podziemski and then he gets the foul,” Finch said. “We sent a bunch of those clips into the league.”
The Timberwolves coach expressed frustration with how Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, was officiated in the 99–88 loss, where the Warriors controlled the paint and glass despite lacking size.
“I’m not sure I know another player in the league with Rudy’s pedigree that is allowed to be physically beaten the way he is,” Finch said. “They look like pulling guards and linemen out there just taking shots at Rudy.”
Golden State limited Minnesota to just 17.2% shooting from three-point range while grabbing key offensive rebounds and forcing turnovers in transition.
Finch acknowledged his team failed to meet physical and mental standards in Game 1 but insisted the officiating against Gobert must be addressed.
“They do a lot of fouling, holding, shoving, and tackling Rudy,” Finch said. “We got to address that one way or another.”
Finch also pointed to Warriors guard Gary Payton II as a key factor in Golden State’s rebounding success, crediting his consistent crashing from the perimeter.
“Payton Jr. has the highest crash rate for any small in the league,” Finch noted. “He’s always there.”
The Timberwolves were outscored 36–29 in the third quarter and never recovered, despite 23 points and 14 rebounds from Anthony Edwards.
Finch emphasized the need to fix internal execution but remained vocal about getting fair treatment for his All-NBA center moving forward.
“We were awful in transition—that had nothing to do with whether Steph [Curry] was on the floor or not,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that we need to improve upon to even out this series.”
The Timberwolves trail 0–1 in the best-of-seven matchup, with Curry ruled out for at least a week due to a left hamstring injury.
