With 5:09 left in the fourth quarter of the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ 115-108 loss against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of their second-round series on Friday, the Wolves were granted a timeout. Minnesota coach Chris Finch, however, had tried to call it a few seconds earlier. Finch expressed his displeasure to referee Tony Brothers, then walked back toward his team’s bench. Brothers then confronted him, and Minnesota big man Naz Reid got in between the two.
“Yeah, I wanted the timeout,” Finch told reporters. “And I had called it three seconds earlier and I wanted the timeout and I said, ‘I want my three seconds back.’ ‘Cause he clearly heard me. He looked my way, ignored me, went on with the play and then gave me the — almost cost us a turnover. And then he lost it.”
After that, Finch approached Brothers again. He told reporters that he was asking where Minnesota would be inbounding the ball.
“And he screamed at me for that,” Finch said. “So, completely unprofessional behavior by him.”
This time, Wolves assistant coach Pablo Prigioni and guard Bones Hyland got in between Brothers and Finch.
Minnesota center Rudy Gobert downplayed the incident: “It’s the playoffs. High emotions. High stakes. It happens.” He added that, at the time, he tried to de-escalate the situation.
“I mean, they’re both, what, 60 years old? Relax a little bit,” Gobert told reporters. (Finch is 56. Brothers is 61.)
It is normal for coaches to get heated toward referees, especially this time of year. It is extremely unusual, though, for players to hold back a ref during this kind of dispute. Nonetheless, Anthony Edwards, like Gobert, attributed it to the intensity of the game as the Wolves fell behind 2-1 in the series.
“We didn’t really hear what was going on,” Edwards told reporters. “I mean, it’s competition at the highest level, man. You know, we want to win, Finchy want to win and Tony Brothers is Tony Brothers. You know, we all love him, so it’s all good.”
The incident between Finch and Brothers was the second notable exchange involving an official in as many nights of the NBA playoffs. Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves got into it with official John Goble during Thursday night’s Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Reaves, who accused Goble of being “disrespectful,” confronted the entire officiating crew near midcourt as the game ended along with LeBron James and a few other teammates.
