Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch labelled elements of his side’s performance against the Charlotte Hornets “absolutely disgusting” and “immature” while also insisting they “disrespected the game”.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record 62 points for the Timberwolves but they squandered an 18-point lead to lose 128-125.
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Finch’s fury centred around a belief that his players got carried away with Towns’ efforts and placed too much emphasis on picking out the 28-year-old rather than sticking to team plans.
“It was an absolutely disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball, all the way through the game,” he said.
“It didn’t slip away, it had been there from the jump. This is what happens when you have this type of approach.
“I kept imploring them to try to compete, play some defense, switch between man and zone, get up on the shooters, but the messages weren’t getting through.”
Finch acknowledged you have to feed a player when he’s on a hot streak, as Towns was, but he felt it had gone too far.
“I mean there’s lots of times when, just because you’ve scored two or three or four points in a row, or baskets in a row, you know obviously we’re going to try to feed a hot hand, look for a hot hand, but at some point we got to get back to making the right play, we got to get back to doing the right things,” he added.
“It was an absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball.”
Chris Finch gives his thoughts after the loss. #RaisedByWolves #Timberwolves pic.twitter.com/CI8sX5ZsUF
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) January 23, 2024
“There’s a lot of ways to be immature. There’s always a lot of ways to be immature. There was a lot of immature performances here throughout the roster. We totally disrespected the game, ourselves, and we got exactly what we deserved.”
Minnesota’s implosion took the shine off what was an impressive display from Towns, who said: “We’re number one in the West, one of the best teams in the NBA; there ain’t no time for moral victories, silver linings, ‘great night, but just not a finish we wanted.’ We’ve got to find a way to win.
“It’s about winning the game. It’s about staying number one in the West. It’s about protecting our home court more, most importantly above all things.”
