Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch addressed his team’s late-game issues after Friday’s 110-105 loss to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center. “Lots of turnovers in the paint. We needed to get off of it a beat earlier. Too many mistakes in the fourth,” Finch said.
Finch also pointed to decision-making errors on critical plays where Bones Hyland fouled Alperen Sengun and then Rudy Gobert fouled Josh Okogie on the closeout. “There’s no point to leave your feet and come down in that situation,” he explained.
The coach admitted free-throw shooting remains a concern. “We’re 28th in free-throw shooting. We get there, we shoot the third worst. We have good shooters, missing them too,” Finch said.
Finch praised Minnesota’s start but noted the team lost momentum. “First quarter, we started offensively really well, had great pace. We just slowed down as the game went along. Their switching and physicality slowed it down,” he said.
Foul trouble compounded the Wolves’ issues in the third quarter. “The third quarter was really weird with the delays and foul troubles. There was a ton of physicality on drives, little touch fouls, and that hurt us,” Finch said.
Despite the challenges, Finch highlighted the team’s effort. “We played physical, tried to force pace, but too many mistakes and missed free throws kept us from closing the gap,” he said.
Julius Randle led Minnesota with a season-high 39 points, while Naz Reid added 25 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Randle brought the Wolves within two points with under a minute left, but Kevin Durant’s late free throws and Alperen Sengun’s hustle secured Houston’s win.
Minnesota falls to 27-15 and will visit the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. Finch emphasized that discipline and execution must improve. “We need to clean up turnovers, make better decisions, and get to the line. That’s where we start to compete at a higher level,” he said.
