The Minnesota Timberwolves extended their winning streak to four games with a 121-113 road victory over the Phoenix Suns.
It ended up being a wild Wednesday night that included Wolves coach Chris Finch being ejected from the game in the third quarter after receiving his second technical foul. The team was down 72-70 when Finch was ejected. It ended up being the motivation the team needed to finish strong.
Finch’s first career ejection comes just days after calling out his team/top guys for not playing hard enough in their win against the Atlanta Hawks. According to some of the players, it didn’t surprise them that he was ejected on Wednesday. With emotions flying high, Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels was also ejected from Wednesday’s game against Phoenix.
Forward Nickeil Alexander-Walker said after the game that coach Finch, “woke up choosing violence” and added that he’s been yelling at everybody. Anthony Edwards also commented on his ejection, saying, “I think he went to sleep last night with violence on his mind.”
The highlight of the night was Julius Randle’s best game with Minnesota. He put together an all-around performance and finished with 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. He was asked if that’s the angriest he’s ever seen Finch, to which he replied, “You should’ve seen him this morning.”
It seems the consensus for the players is Finch is frustrated with the team’s play. The tough love approach from him is working because the team is playing the best basketball they’ve played all season. For the first time this season, the team is five games above .500. In addition to that, they’re only two games back from the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. Slowly, Minnesota is returning to the team that reached the Western Conference Finals just a season ago.
It’s been an emotional season for a team that hasn’t reached expectations. Last night on the road against a talented but also struggling Suns team. The next three games are against the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and the Sacramento Kings. All three are very winnable games as well, so the team could gain even more ground in the standings over the next week. Hopefully Finch’s approach has woken the team up for this final stretch of the season.
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