Minnesota coach Chris Finch didn’t see the end of his team’s game in Phoenix on Wednesday night, but he certainly had to like what transpired after he was ejected.
The Timberwolves, who trailed by two in the third period when he was tossed for arguing with officials, went on to earn a 121-113 victory and will take a four-game winning streak into their game Thursday night against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
Players told The Minnesota Star Tribune that Finch’s fiery attitude might have carried over from an intense film session earlier in the day.
“You should’ve seen him this morning,” said Julius Randle, who totaled 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals against the Suns.
After scoring 23 points and going 5-for-10 from long distance, Nickeil Alexander-Walker claimed “everybody was getting yelled at” during the film session.
“I think he went to sleep last night with violence on his mind,” Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards told the Star Tribune in the aftermath of scoring 33 points with seven rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals. “And you know how you go to sleep with something on your mind and you’re hoping when you wake up … I don’t think his sleep was good enough.”
The Timberwolves were good enough against the Suns — at least after falling behind by 12 in the second quarter. Minnesota kept its winning streak alive by overcoming that double-digit deficit and going up by 14 in the fourth quarter of the road win.
The Timberwolves will look for their first five-game winning streak of the season — this is the second time they’ve had four wins in a row — on the second night of a back-to-back.
Utah brings a season-worst seven-game losing streak into the first of four games against Minnesota in the final 2 1/2 months of the season.
The Jazz didn’t play Wednesday after traveling back from San Francisco following its own back-to-back set on Monday and Tuesday.
The struggling team did get a boost from the injury report on Wednesday. After missing seven players against the Warriors, the Jazz received the news that Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson will be available for the game vs. Minnesota.
John Collins, Johnny Juzang and Walker Kessler also were upgraded to questionable.
Even missing so many key players, the Jazz were within one point of the Golden State Warriors with under six minutes to go Tuesday night.
Collin Sexton had a big outing with 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field as the Jazz lost 114-103. He also had four assists and gained a compliment from his coach.
“Collin is one of my favorite players that I’ve ever been around,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “I tell Collin all the time, ‘I love you and you drive me crazy.’ Both can be true. His fire every day is something that I think we all should aspire to have.”
Hardy said he likes that the Jazz remained competitive against Golden State, which was on the first night of a back-to-back set and won despite the absence of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga.
“These lessons are good for our group, and I’m glad that we’re going through them together,” Hardy said. “I continue to be optimistic about the group as a whole and the growth that we’re showing, the competitiveness that we’re showing, the connectivity that we’re showing.”
–Field Level Media
