Chris Finch’s resilient message that led Timberwolves back to WCF

The Minnesota Timberwolves have done it. Despite being blasted by plenty of critics for their decision to trade Karl-Anthony Towns away to the New York Knicks in a cost-cutting move that brought back Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, the Timberwolves have matched last season’s playoff performance by making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals after taking care of the shorthanded Golden State Warriors in Game 5, 121-110.

Last season, the Timberwolves had a dream season; they were one of the league’s darlings, having won 56 games and even dethroning the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs. But to start the year, they looked like a shell of their former selves. However, they have managed to round into form, and head coach Chris Finch’s patience has been paying off big time.

“Everyone wants to rush the process. Everybody wants everything to be great compared to what you’ve done in the past. All of that’s kind of irrelevant when you have a new team coming into the season,” Finch said in his postgame presser, via Star Tribune Sports on X (formerly Twitter).

In fact, Finch was challenging the Timberwolves all year, lighting a fire underneath them by reminding them that last year’s trip to the WCF was no fluke.

“The challenge we laid down to our guys from day one, was, one question: ‘Were you Western Conference finals team or were you a team that just happened to make the Western Conference finals?’ And there’s only one way to prove that. That was our mission all year and we [went] through a lot of growing pains. But the team’s come together at the right time and playing its best basketball,” Finch added.