The Minnesota Timberwolves' 100-92 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Target Center on Monday marked their third consecutive victory, and it put them four games over .500 for the first time all season. A win is a win, but it was still a bit of an underwhelming one for the Wolves, all things considered.
Chris Finch in particular was certainly less than thrilled with how Minnesota performed in the second half on Monday. He used some particularly strong language after the game to motivate his team to be better, which is not common for him. For Finch to be so vocal about this development to the media means he was equally, if not more, tough on his players.
But Anthony Edwards, for one, did not seem to be overly concerned after the game. In his postgame interview after the game against Atlanta, Edwards voiced that he did not put a ton of stock into his team's second half just because they have been playing such good basketball at an overall level as of late.
"I can't really bash our team for how we played in the second half," said Edwards. "Because we were playing good ball. Bad ball going to come every once in a while ... We got cussed out for it today."
Anthony Edwards was not as concerned with tonight's game in his postgame media as Finch was in his.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) January 28, 2025
Most of Ant's answers about the game came back to "we just missed shots". Ant said it's less concerning he feels like they've been playing good ball of late. https://t.co/3bm1id9R5N pic.twitter.com/5cQdeqseCZ
Edwards not mad at Wolves' second half due to overall solid play
In a way, this viewpoint makes some sense. Minnesota has certainly strung together some solid games as of late, so it can not be too surprising that they ran into one lackluster half. But as Finch clearly pointed out, intensity has to be kept up regardless of the opponent, regardless of the score.
Edwards admitted that Finch was not wrong in his criticism. This team has to take their opponents seriously, regardless of who steps on the floor on the other side. Ant also noted that the Hawks became more difficult to guard when they had no go-to guy, and a lot more randomness was introduced into how they played.
This feels like a moment where Edwards took a measured approach in reacting to the game. He did not want to get overly concerned over a game where the Timberwolves ultimately still did enough to win, but he also recognized the importance of what Finch was stressing. Overall, this win should serve as a lesson, and one that Minnesota did not even have to learn the hard way.