Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch pointed to poor offensive execution and a loss of defensive edge as key reasons for the team’s 114-88 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters postgame, Finch said the Timberwolves’ rushed offense in the second half led to low-quality shots, which in turn “affected our defense, honestly.”
Minnesota entered halftime with a 48-44 lead, but a 10-0 Thunder run to start the third quarter flipped the momentum decisively.
“We didn’t have a lot of patience in the second half,” Finch said. “We got some fouls early, which I thought made us a bit softer than we needed to be.”
Despite Julius Randle’s 20-point first half, the Wolves were outscored 70-40 after the break and held to just 34.9% shooting overall.
Finch acknowledged the team found open perimeter looks but failed to convert when it mattered.
“There were a lot of good shots out there,” he said. “Sometimes the passes were late, sometimes we weren’t quite shot ready… but we couldn’t connect when the game was kind of turning against us.”
Minnesota attempted 51 three-pointers, hitting just 15, and had only 20 points in the paint — a major drop from earlier playoff rounds.
“They got five guys in the paint at any given time,” Finch noted when asked about the drop in rim pressure.
Anthony Edwards, dealing with a sore ankle, finished with 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting and fouled out in the fourth quarter.
Finch confirmed Edwards mentioned ankle soreness at halftime but insisted, “he said he would be fine.”
Asked about Rudy Gobert’s limited impact after picking up two early fouls, Finch defended the center’s performance and explained the decision to play smaller lineups later.
“Rudy was a minus-two; he was actually one of our better plus-minus guys,” Finch said. “It was just early foul trouble and then I tried to do something else.”
Bench players Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid combined to shoot 4-of-25 from the field.
Finch attributed their struggles to rhythm issues and said the team needs to “do a better job of repeating the things we know we can find out there.”
Jaden McDaniels attempted just five shots, which Finch acknowledged was too few.
“I thought he turned down a bunch of looks… five shots is probably not enough for him,” he said.
Despite the lopsided loss, Finch maintained a composed outlook heading into Game 2.
“It’s Game 1. They won at home. Congrats to them. They played really well. There’s another game in two days,” he concluded.
Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
