ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Timberwolves made a concerted effort to dig into the officiating after the team’s 107-100 loss Wednesday in Phoenix, and the timing made sense from multiple perspectives.
For Wolves coach Chris Finch, he had witnessed Phoenix bench boss Monty Williams complain about officiating the week prior, and noticed a perceived payoff in the form of the Suns’ 27 free throws — led by Devin Booker’s 15 — as opposed to Minnesota’s 12 in the game.
“It works, because tonight they went to the line 27 times, we went to the line 12 times. So sitting up here and talking about it or whatever must’ve worked for them,” Finch told reporters postgame. “Because this is a team that doesn’t historically draw fouls at the rate they did tonight.”
Ahead of the Timberwolves’ titanic home game Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers that has massive implications in the Western Conference playoff race, it couldn’t hurt to send a little message to the referees about Minnesota’s perceived slights.
“The free-throw disparity got us. I thought we were driving and playing with just as much force as they were,” Finch said of the Phoenix game. “I thought the first half was a really well played, clean game. It was a physical game, for sure. And then, I felt that the second half just flipped. It was not the same game.”
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Minnesota was whistled for zero fouls in the first quarter, and 11 in the third.
“I thought we kept defending,” Finch said. “They just kept going to the line.”
While his team did not.
“When we punched a gap, they were draped all over us and super physical,” Finch said. “We needed some of those to turn into free-throw opportunities for us, and they didn’t.”
While the officiating complaints were certainly the theme of Finch’s press conference, he still managed to contain himself. Veteran center Rudy Gobert did not.
Gobert said the officiating is “not fair” and immediately dove into conspiracy theories about how the officials wanted each of Minnesota’s past three opponents to win.
“It’s just so obvious,” Gobert told reporters in Phoenix. “As a basketball player that’s been in this league for so long, it’s disrespectful, and it sucks, to be honest.”
Gobert then stated the league wants the likes of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James to get into the playoffs. It was a slew of wild insinuations in succession.
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The Timberwolves seem to feel they’re merited.
Finch noted the “play of the game” Wednesday, in his mind, came on a Devin Booker and-1 in which the guard was freed by an uncalled illegal screen from DeAndre Ayton. He then dove into one of Gobert’s four whistled offensive fouls.
“They call a bunch of illegal screens on the other end. … But they weren’t illegal screens, they were actually physical plays,” Finch said. “I thought Durant leads with his elbow into Rudy’s face, which is something that happens all around the league right now, and somehow they tagged Rudy for it.”
For the record, replay showed Gobert’s screen on that play more so resembled that of an offensive lineman attempting to block with two arms out. And it should be noted that during his introductory press conference last summer, Gobert himself noted how much Finch used to complain about the big man’s screens.
Minnesota has a stronger case in regards to other headshots that are not being reviewed for flagrant fouls, while opponents are getting those calls that lead to free throws and the ball back. For instance, on a missed dunk attempt by Naz Reid that resulted in a Reid wrist injury that has him questionable for Friday’s game, a whistle was blown that sent the center to the line.
But the play likely should have been reviewed for a flagrant foul since Reid was hit in the face on the play. Minnesota sent a “thematic edit” to the NBA of clips where Gobert gets hit in the face without reviews.
“Everyone else’s hit to the face seemingly does get reviewed,” Finch said. “It’s something the league is aware of. They’re working through it.”
Just as the Timberwolves need to work through their own feelings on the matter as they head into the finishing kick of the regular season.
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