Wolves, Warriors take issue with officiating after Game 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said his team submitted clips to the league office that showed what he called egregious contact made against center Rudy Gobert in Minnesota’s 99-88 Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, none of which was called by the officials.
“On defensive rebounding, they do a lot of fouling, shoving, holding, pushing and tackling Rudy,” Finch said after practice Wednesday. “That’s clear. We sent a bunch of those clips into the league. In fact, I’m not sure I know another player in the league with Rudy’s pedigree that is allowed to be physically beaten on the way he is. And so we’ve got to address that one way or another.”
Minnesota was dominated on the glass, 51-41, with Gobert grabbing 11 rebounds – a steep drop-off from the 24 he had when the Timberwolves closed out the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Finch cited one sequence as being particularly unnerving. Gobert was whistled for a foul in the second quarter when Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski “clearly grabbed him” first and the Wolves big man merely tried to free himself from the Warriors guard’s hold on him.
“We’ll certainly try to take justice into our own hands whenever we can — I think that’s the nature of a physical sport — but by the same token, my God, you should see some of these clips,” Finch said. “They look like pulling guards and linemen out there just taking shots at Rudy.”
Minnesota was called for 21 fouls in Game 1, compared to 18 for the Warriors (however, the Wolves attempted more free throws, 17-15).
When informed of Finch’s gripe with the officiating, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he had issues to take up on Golden State’s behalf, too.
“I’m getting ready to send my own tapes to the league,” Kerr said. “Chris has his complaints, I have mine.”
During his postgame comments Tuesday, Finch took franchise star Anthony Edwards to task for his lack of energy in Game 1. A day later, guard Donte DiVincenzo said “there was nobody safe” during the Wolves’ film review of the debacle, as players took accountability for their part in the letdown.
That included Wolves guard Jaden McDaniels putting the onus on himself — and not the referees — for only securing four rebounds.
“They were playing harder than us, more physical,” McDaniels said of the Warriors. “They were pushing and stuff, but if the ref don’t call it, there’s no foul. We just got to play through it, not worry about the refs and just go and play like it’s us versus everyone.”
Source: espn.com