Chris Finch has the Minnesota Timberwolves in the middle of their most successful period in team history. He has now won 26 games in the postseason when the franchise had only 18 playoff victories total prior to his arrival.
The Wolves won nine games the last two years in the playoffs, which led to reaching the conference finals for the second and third time ever. During those postseason runs, Finch often utilized an eight-man rotation, and that’s something he went back to on Friday. However, this decision didn't pay off.
The Timberwolves had seemingly done their job, winning one of the first two games on the road against the San Antonio Spurs. The way they lost Game 2, though, (by 38 points) made it a question as to whether Finch would make changes for Game 3.
That’s what happened as only eight players saw action in the 115-108 loss. Starting for the fifth-straight contest, Mike Conley was taken out just over four minutes into the game and was never reinserted.
Finch is shrinking postseason rotation
The three players who came off the bench and played for Minnesota were Naz Reid, Ayo Dosunmu, and Terrence Shannon Jr. Each of them played more than 28 minutes.
It’s just the second time in the first nine playoff games this year that Finch went to an eight-man rotation (even when not accounting for garbage time). The first instance was the series-clinching Game 6 against the Denver Nuggets. While Donte DiVincenzo was out both on Friday and in that Game 6, the Wolves were also missing Anthony Edwards and Dosunmu.
Bones Hyland saw floor time in each of the first eight postseason outings, but he remained on the bench on Friday. It was a move that many anticipated after Bones didn’t make a field goal in each of the previous three games.
Jaylen Clark started out not receiving minutes, but appeared in Minnesota’s last four playoff games. A great defender, the 24-year-old just doesn’t provide enough on the offensive end against a Spurs team that is making it difficult for Minnesota to consistently score.
Kyle Anderson has been out of the rotation for the last few games, but the thought was that perhaps he could see time in Game 3 to help provide better ball-movement. Instead, he also didn’t play.
With Conley barely playing, you have to wonder if there’s a starting lineup change for Game 4 (Dosunmu?), and if the 38-year-old plays at all. I don’t think Finch only plays seven guys, so one of the three players just mentioned could see their number called for Game 4.
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