Timberwolves' Chris Finch gets brutally honest about Minnesota after loss to Cavaliers
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Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch did not mince words after his team’s 128-107 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Minnesota was heading into the game on a three-game winning streak, including an encouraging victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Unfortunately, Monday night showed that this team has a long way to go before being a contender again. And this loss came despite another terrific Anthony Edwards performance.
In an interview with Minnesota Timberwolves radio commentator Alan Horton, Finch was blunt about his team’s performance.
“I didn’t like much about us tonight.”
The Timberwolves are trying to find consistency as the Western Conference race heats up
Minnesota currently sits at 30-24 and is seventh in the Western Conference. Chris Finch’s team is tied with the six-seeded Los Angeles Clippers and has the league’s 24th hardest strength of schedule. Anthony Edwards is certainly trying to seize the opportunity to move up in the standings. The superstar shooting guard is averaging 37 points per game in the month of February.
Edwards has had to step up, especially with all the injuries Minnesota has been going through recently. Donte DiVincenzo has been out since mid-January with a toe injury, while starting power forward Julius Randle has not played a game in February. The franchise did not make any significant moves over the trade deadline, meaning that this will be the group Minnesota will have for the rest of the season.
In Randle’s absence, Naz Reid has been stellar as a starter. The sixth-year center out of LSU is averaging 19.6 points and 7.4 assists this month and has been a large contributor to the Timberwolves’ positive run of form. Unfortunately, Reid did not continue his elite play on Monday night, shooting four of twelve from the field and scoring just ten points.
The Cavaliers were stellar in new small forward De’Andre Hunter’s debut. Cleveland led 30-12 after the first quarter and never looked back. Edwards scored 44 points on the evening but had very little help from his supporting cast.
While the Timberwolves’ schedule will lighten up soon, they will face a wave of contenders over the next few weeks. Minnesota will play Oklahoma City three times in the next month and will also make road visits to the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.
Overall, going .500 over the past few weeks would be fine, but Chris Finch’s team must rack up the wins after this stretch. The Timberwolves, however, cannot replicate the performance on Monday night if they want to get out of the Play-In.
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