Chris Finch speaks on decision not to close with Naz Reid against Warriors

The Minnesota Timberwolves fell back to just one game above .500 on Saturday after their home loss to the Golden State Warriors. After winning six of their previous seven games, the Wolves have now dropped their last two contests.

Weirdly enough, the game at Target Center on Saturday was delayed by 25 minutes due to a strange situation where the net and rim needed to be re-adjusted at one end of the court. But when play did finally begin, Minnesota's offensive problems were as evident as ever.

It took the Timberwolves until 5:38 left in the second quarter to get their first points of the second frame, going a total of 6:54 (well over half a quarter) with zero points scored. This was a disturbing trend, but Minnesota did begin to pick things up a bit in the second half, logging 38 points in the third quarter.

Down the stretch of the game, the Warriors' offense was simply sharper than the Timberwolves'. Perhaps one of the biggest developments Wolves fans noticed was Chris Finch opting to roll with Julius Randle over Naz Reid in the closing lineup once again. When asked about whether he considered closing with Reid, Finch's answer was blunt. "I did, but I didn't," he said.

Finch kept Randle in the closing lineup

This was a bit of a controversial decision, given how effective Reid was late in the game. He scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, but he did not get a chance in clutch time until it was basically too late. Randle remained in the game as Stephen Curry buried not one but two dagger threes that effectively put the Wolves away.

There could have been a multitude of reasons for Finch opting to roll with Randle instead of Reid, but one has to wonder how much of Minnesota's strategy right now is to simply play Julius in every situation possible, get as much of a sample size of his performance in clutch situations as they can, and gather a bunch of data to use in determining whether or not to consider trading him at the deadline.

This would certainly seem plausible, at the very least. But in the meantime, it leaves Timberwolves fans wondering when they will see this team operate at maximum efficiency every night out once again. Even when playing his best, Randle seems to be a clunky fit with this roster. Perhaps Reid will get his chance to make an impact when it matters most the next time out.