Minnesota Coach Chris Finch Says Timberwolves ‘Have a Lot of Basketball Left in Us’

The Minnesota Timberwolves are on the brink of elimination.

Trailing the Dallas Mavericks 3–0 in the Western Conference finals, the Timberwolves will need to pull off a comeback never before seen in NBA history if they are to battle all the way back and reach the NBA Finals.

While the situation is undoubtedly dire, Minnesota head coach Chris Finch isn’t panicking. Speaking with reporters on Monday, he said that the Timberwolves comeback effort must first come down to fixing some simple mistakes.

“It starts at the end. It starts with closing these games better,” Finch said. “You look at the end of the game, we fell asleep on a defensive rotation, gave up a corner three. We missed a layup, go one-for-two from the free-throw line. We miss an open three. On the other end, they make two tough, contested shots.”

“It’s been turnovers and missed opportunities,” Finch concluded of the team’s Game 3 breakdown. To me, it starts at the end.”

The Timberwolves’ poor finish to Game 3 was illustrative of where they have fallen short throughout the series so far. After losing the first two games by four points combined, Minnesota had Game 3 tied with just over four minutes to play before ultimately dropping the game by nine points.

Like its counterpart in the Eastern Conference, this series is tighter than the results currently indicate.

Finch was later asked if he had considered changing up the distribution of minutes amongst his players heading into Game 4, especially with big man Karl-Anthony Towns struggling to find his shot. Finch said that he needed Towns in the game, as if the Timberwolves were going to come back in the series, he would undoubtedly be a part of the effort.

“Just trying to stick with KAT, even though he’s struggling out there,” Finch said. “We still feel like it’s going to be a long series. We still feel like we’ve got a lot of basketball in us, so we’re trying to keep him confident.”

Finch Isn’t the Only One Who Believes the Timberwolves Can Still Make Things Interesting in the West

Doubt Minnesota at your own risk.

It will take a Herculean effort for the Timberwolves to come back from their current deficit. In the history of the NBA, just four teams have ever come back to even force a Game 7 after losing the first three games of a seven-game series, and no team has ever finished the job.

But Finch isn’t alone in his belief that the Wolves can still make some noise in the postseason.

Budding superstar Anthony Edwards has not been shy about the fact that he still believes the Timberwolves to be the better team in the series. Teammate Mike Conleyexpressed a similar confidence, saying that he believed Minnesota could find a way to win four in a row.

To get to four wins in a row, the Timberwolves will first have to get one, and they’ll get their chance on Tuesday night when Game 4 tips off in Dallas.

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