Minnesota Timberwolves fans are no doubt still elated at their team's resounding 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in round one of the playoffs. Anthony Edwards and the rest of the Wolves banded together to erase their clutch time problems and completely dominate their first-round matchup against the favored Lakers.
It was another breakout performance for Edwards without a doubt. But let's not ignore the fact that Minnesota also won this series due to a pretty noticeable advantage in the coaching department. Chris Finch showed his expertise and coached circles around a younger opponent in JJ Redick.
The most obvious example of something you could identity as a rookie mistake Redick made in this series was the now-infamous decision he made in the crucial Game 4 in Minneapolis. In the second half, JJ did not make a single substitution, leaving Dorian Finney-Smith, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Luka Doncic out there for the entire second half.
Redick felt like he had to just run with his five best players for the final 24 minutes, but it wasn't a decision that paid off in the end. The Lakers looked gassed, and JJ's bold choice led to a three-point loss for LA that put them down 3-1 in the series.
Finch's coaching experience shined against the younger JJ Redick
There were plenty of criticisms of Redick's coaching from Lakers fans down the stretch of this season and especially into this playoff series. Some of it even reminded that fanbase of their situation with Darvin Ham in the previous season. But the truth is every time JJ struggled coaching in this series, it meant Chris Finch was at least two steps ahead of him simply due to the experience disparity.
Finch used lineups and strategies that played to his roster's strengths as much as he could against LA. Obviously, having Anthony Edwards attack the rim with no shot-blocker on the Lakers' side of things was an obvious move to keep going back to. But then there was also his scheming that allowed Julius Randle to thrive and for the Wolves to largely limit LeBron's effectiveness, holding him below 45% shooting in three of the five games.
This all comes one season after Finch really dug deep to help Minnesota overcome challenging circumstances in last year's playoffs. He has his ups and downs, especially in the regular season. But so does every coach, and unlike most others, Finch has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a real asset for any team in the playoffs.
The expertise of Finch is yet another reason to feel good about the Timberwolves' chances in the playoffs going forward. He's already got one deep playoff run under his belt as a head coach, and that will continue to aid him as Minnesota chases a championship.